


Time Travel Trepidation

by Castiel_in_the_impala



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 2 Castiels, 2 Deans, 2 Sams, AU, Abaddon - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angels, Angst, Archangel Gabriel, Archangel Raphael - Freeform, Archangels, Bad News, Blind Dean, Bunker, Castiel Comforts Dean, Castiel's Garrison - Freeform, Character Death, Coma, Comforting Castiel, Dead Dean Winchester, Dead Gabriel, Dead Leviathan, Dead Monsters, Dead Raphael, Dean Remembers Hell, Dean and Castiel in Purgatory, Dean's Soul, Demon Dean, Demons, Destiel - Freeform, Dying Dean, Endverse Sam - Freeform, Episode: s04e01 Lazarus Rising, Episode: s11e23 Alpha and Omega, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future Sam Winchester, Garrison - Freeform, Gen, God - Freeform, Good Friend Lucifer, Good Monsters, Good Purgatory, Happy Ending, Heaven, Hell, Hell Flashbacks, Henry Winchester - Freeform, Hurt Dean Winchester, Hurt!Gabriel, Hurt!Sam, Leviathans, Lucifer in the Cage, Lucifer's Cage, M/M, Men of Letters, Nightmares, PTSD, Power problems, Powered Up Castiel, Powerful!Castiel, Protective Lucifer, Purgatory, Raphael - Freeform, Resurrected Gabriel, Resurrection, Sam Ships It, Samandriel - Freeform, Season 11, Season 11 Episode 23, Season 4 Episode 1, Season/Series 12, Season/Series 12 Speculation, The Apocalypse, The Cage, The Darkness - Freeform, Time Travel, Torture, Vampires, Werewolves, Worried Sam, casdean - Freeform, dean has ptsd, hurt!Dean, hurt!castiel, sad!dean, season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-08-13 00:48:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 29
Words: 46,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7955596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Castiel_in_the_impala/pseuds/Castiel_in_the_impala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean is dead. He sacrificed himself to save the world from the darkness. Unable to live in a world without Dean, God gives Castiel the opportunity to travel back in time to the day Dean got out of hell and set everything right. God also sends Cas along with a power up. There's no telling how powerful he will become. But even with all that power, is it possible for the angel to change the destiny of the world?<br/>(This summary doesn't give it justice. If you like time travel, angsty mysteries, and drama, just read it. Trust me.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Time Travel

Dean is dead. He’s gone and there’s nothing Castiel can do to get him back. He rubs his hands in circles on Sam’s back as Sam cries into his shoulder.

“We will get through this, Sam,” he says, barely hiding the crack in his voice.

Sam pulls back and wipes the tears from his face. “My brother is  _ dead _ , Cas. I mean, he’s died before, but has always come back. It’s final this time. I don’t think I’ll ever get through this.” “Do you want to change it?” a third voice asks.

 

The two men spin around to find Chuck standing before them.

“Chuck? I thought you left,” Sam says.

Castiel skips the introductions and cuts right to the chase. “Change it? How?” Cas asks. 

Chuck steps forward. “You’ve all been through so much. I feel responsible for it. I’m willing to send you back in time, Castiel. You can change everything that happened the past few years.”

Cas looks at Sam, bewildered, and turns back to Chuck. He thinks for a moment.

“But I am just one angel. How can I do this alone?” He asks sadly.

Chuck steps up to him. He puts a hand on the angel’s shoulder and closes his eyes.

Cas can feel unbelievable power surging through him. It feels as if the energy of a thousand suns are exploding within his grace. He stumbles back when Chuck removes his hand.

 

Sam steadies the disheveled angel. “What did you do?” Sam asks as Cas blinks a few times. 

“He gave me a piece of him…” He says in disbelief.

“Just a few molecules, but it will sure make a difference. There’s no telling how powerful he will be, but I trust him to use it for good. And Castiel?”

Cas looks up from staring at his hands. “Yes Father?”

“If you need my help at all, just go to Chuck and say the words, ‘Angel of Thursday’. You’ve been one of my favorite angels since the beginning of creation so that has been one of my codewords for occasions like this.”

Cas looks into Chuck’s eyes with admiration. “Thank you.” 

 

“Good luck, Cas,” Sam says as he pulls him into a hug.

“Thank you Sam.” Castiel turns back to Chuck.

“Now I’m going to send you back to the day Dean got out of hell. No one will have met you yet.” Castiel nods and closes his eyes as Chuck reaches out and touches his forehead with two fingers. “Till we meet again.” 

  
xx  
  


Castiel feels a jolt of electricity pass through him. He stands there for a moment. Opening his eyes, he can see that he is standing in the middle of the Singer Salvage Yard.

“Can I help you?” a burly voice asks. Castiel turns to see Bobby Singer standing a few yards away.

Resisting the urge to hug the used-to-be-dead hunter, he replies. “I, uh, am in need of assistance.” Castiel knows it is in his best interest to not let anyone know what he is yet.

“Well sorry,” Bobby responds, “Closed for a while. Family business to attend to.” He turns to leave. 

“Is Dean okay?” Castiel blurts out. Bobby stops dead in his tracks.

 

A second later, Castiel is met with a shotgun in his face. “How do you know about Dean?” Bobby demands.

Castiel tries to think of a good response.

“Answer me!”

He fiddles with his hands. “Uh. I don’t have a good explaination for that,” he replies sheepishly.

Before he can react, Bobby hits him in the head with the butt of the shotgun. Despite being an angel, Castiel is knocked out cold.

 

Castiel can hear muffled voices.

“He knew you’re alive, Dean” Bobby says.

“Well who the hell is he?” That’s Dean’s voice.

“The question is,” Sam interrupts, “What is he?”

“What do you mean? We did all the tests,” says Dean, “He’s not a demon, shifter, or anything else.”

“Check this out,” Sam replies.

Castiel can feel Sam picking his arm up and turning it over. “The cuts from the silver and iron are healed, Dean.” 

“What the hell?” Bobby mutters. 

 

A groan escapes Castiel’s mouth. Sam drops his arm and jumps back. Castiel slowly opens his eyes to see the blurry figures of Dean, Sam, and Bobby. They’re all in Bobby’s living room. 

He looks at Dean, gazing up and down at him before his eyes settle on his shoulder. The grace handprint is calling to him.

“Hello Dean,” he croaks. Castiel looks down to see he is tied to a chair in a devil’s trap.

“What are you?” Sam asks.

“And how do you know about me?” Dean demands. 

 

Castiel looks down at the ropes tied around him. “It would be much easier if I were not tied up as if I were a demon.” 

The three take a step back. “Sorry,” Dean says, “Not human, so not getting untied.”

Castiel sighs before he tugs lightly at the ropes. They fall off him. The power boost Chuck gave him makes things like this a piece of cake. Or pie, as Dean would say. 

 

Castiel stands, free from the ropes.

The sound of a gunshot fills the ears of everyone. Bobby’s shotgun is raised and smoking. 

Castiel looks down at his shirt, now littered with salt. “That was unnecessary Bobby Singer.” He sweeps his hand over his stomach, healing it.

“What are you?” Sam asks.

 

Castiel steps up to Bobby’s desk, pulls out a piece of paper, and draws something. “It’s better for all of you if you do not know of what I am at the moment. You will learn in due time.” He finishes drawing and hands the paper to Bobby. 

“Put these sigils around the house. It is vital for your protection.” He turns to the door, preparing to leave. 

“From whatever yanked my ass outta the pit?” 

Castiel chuckles and looks back at them, hand still on the door handle. “No. That would be me. It’s my family that’s the problem,” he opens the door, “As for who I am, look under Thursday.” 

With this, Castiel steps out and closes the door. 

Sam opens the door to follow him, but closes the door and turns back to the group. “He’s gone.” 

The yard is empty as if he disappeared.

  
xx  
  


Castiel has a lot of work to do. Prevent the apocalypse, keep Raphael from taking over heaven, prevent the Leviathans, prevent Dean from getting the Mark of Cain, prevent the darkness, and a lot more.

But first, he has to let his father know of his plan.

 

After he left Bobby’s house, he went to Chuck’s house.

Stepping up to the front door, he rings the doorbell. Castiel can hear bottles falling off a table followed by a string of swears and locks unlocking.

“Yes?” Chuck asks. He’s in his bathrobe, as usual.

“Angel of Thursday,” Castiel replies.

Chuck straightens up and looks Castiel up and down. “Come on in Castiel.”

 

After Castiel came in, he told Chuck about his mission and let him read his mind of the past.

“I  _ knew _ I sensed a piece of me arrive here yesterday,” Chuck says as he opens another bottle of beer.

“Yes. You gave me a few molecules of yourself to “power me up”,” Castiel replies, using air quotes.

“Well, I can’t exactly stay with you. Raphael watching me as a prophet and everything. And I’m sure he would notice two of you running around; one on earth, and one in heaven. As for the past-you that is in this time, talk to Gabriel. He’ll help you.”

“Thank you Chuck.” 

Castiel flies back to the Winchesters with supplies to summon Gabriel.


	2. Trickster or Archangel?

Sam finishes the last sigil and returns to the living room. ‘What language is this? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Bobby takes the paper. “I ain't seen anything like it either. Must be some fancy demon language.” Bobby returns to his lore book and Sam looks on with Dean’s.

 

“I think I found it,” Bobby says as he point to a passage in a lore book, “It says here that the demon Acham presides over Thursdays. It makes sense that he didn’t react to the traditional salt, holy water, or devil’s trap. High level demons have a tendency to avoid reaction to those.”

“All I found was a bunch of crap on an ‘angel’ named Cassiel,” says Dean as he tosses the angel lore book on the table.

“How do we kill him?” he asks.

“Says here Acham can only be killed with the Demon Killing Knife of the Kurds.”

Sam walks to his room and rummages through his bag. He returns and hands the knife to Dean.

“I’ll let you do the honor.”

 

As if on cue, a knock is heard on the door.

Everyone stiffens.

“He’s back,” Bobby says quietly.

Dean tucks the knife into his pants and goes to the door.

They all glance at eachother before Dean opens the door and the trench coated demon walks in.

“Wait a minute,” Bobby says, “If we put up wards against your family, why don’t they work on you.”

The demon sets a bag full of sugary candy on the table and looks at Bobby. “The enochian sigils I gave you are branded with my name, as well as one other. It allows me to pass through its borders.”

“Wait…” Sam interjects, “Enochian? Isn’t that the language of the an-” The sound of crunching bone is heard as Dean plunges the demon killing knife into it’s back.

Seeing as the demon was distracted, it was the perfect time to stab it.

Dean steps back, everyone watching in shock.

The demon itself looks a little startled. “I should have been expecting that…” it says then mumbles something about ‘happened last time’.

 

“Why aren’t you dead?” Dean asks, “That knife is supposed to kill you.”

Castiel turns around stiffly, unable to get the knife out on his own. “You did look under Thursday, correct?”

“You’re not Acham?” Sam asks hesitantly.

“Cassiel…” Dean says with a far off face.

“What?” questions Bobby.

“You’re Cassiel… The angel…” Dean reaches around and yanks the knife out.

Castiel rolls his shoulders, cracking his back along with it.

“Angels are real?” Bobby asks in disbelief.

“Yes. But your lore is incorrect. My name is Castiel, Angel of Thursday.”

 

The room is quiet for a few minutes.

“So…” Sam starts, “Enochian is-” “The language of the angels, yes.”

Castiel turns back to the bag on the table and takes out the candy. Lollipops, chocolate bars, gummy bears. You name it, it is there. Even a small bag of pure sugar is taken out.

“Didn’t know angels liked candy,” Dean says with a small chuckle.

“It is not for my consumption,” Castiel replies. He turns to the group and holds out his hands. “We must join hands. I am summoning someone to help us.”

They all join hands.

The lights flicker as Castiel closes his eyes and says, “Loki, I summon thee with the intention of preventing catastrophic events,” he pauses and opens one eye. Seeing that ‘Loki’ isn’t there, he continues, “Gabriel. I know it’s you. I am in need of your assistance.”

The sound of a candy wrapper is heard behind the group.

They turn to see a man unwrapping some of the chocolate that was left on the table.

“The Trickster!” Sam yells as he dashes for a stake on Bobby’s shelf.

The Trickster snaps his fingers and the stake disappears. He pops a piece of chocolate into his mouth.

“Hold your horses Samsquatch. I’m not Loki, the trickster god. Well, technically I am, but it’s my own private witness protection,” he turns to Castiel, “Hey little bro!”

He pulls Cas into a hug. “Hello Gabriel.”

 

The hug ends and they turn back to the group, who is still on edge.

“Yes Sam. It’s him.”

Dean looks at Castiel with a confused expression. “Sam didn’t say anything.”

“No, but his thoughts are very loud.”

Gabriel turns to him. “Since when can a seraph read minds? Only archangels can do that.”

Castiel smiles and looks down to examine his hands. He watches as his new power surges through them.

“Father gave me a piece of him. I am as powerful as an archangel now, if not more.”

“Congrats bro!” Gabriel says and pats him on the back.

Dean and Bobby look at each other, still very confused.

“He’s the Archangel Gabriel,” Sam says to clarify.

“Well shit,” Bobby grunts, “Five minutes ago I didn’t even know angels existed and now I’ve got an archangel in my living room.”

“Backtrack for a minute,” says Dean, stepping forward, “What do you mean, witness protection?”

Castiel answers this one. “Gabriel vanished many millennia ago and was presumed to be dead. Little did we know, he just didn’t want to be involved with heaven and my controlling brother Michael. He decided to exercise his Free Will and disappear under the name of Loki, the Trickster God.”

Now it was Gabriel’s turn to be confused. “How do you know that?”

Castiel sighs, trying to figure out the best way to tell everyone he’s from the future.

“It is 2008, correct?”

The group nods.

“Well this is 8 years ago from my perspective.”

They are all quiet for a few moments.

“You’re from the future.” Sam says plainly.

Castiel nods in response. “Father sent me back to prevent catastrophic events from unfolding.”

Gabriel steps forward. “I want to see.”

He closes his eyes and places the palm of his hand on Castiel’s forehead as he extracts the memories. His face morphs from concentration to panicked and saddened. He removes his hand and stumbles back, wide eyed.

“Holy shit,” Dean says, “If the future has an archangel looking like that, well...” He puts his hands up and walks off with a huff.

 

Gabriel clears his throat and straightens up.

The two angels meet eyes.

Castiel’s saddened glossy blue look down to the floor.

“I’m so sorry Cassie…”

Gabriel didn’t just get Castiel’s memories. He got his feelings too. The most powerful feeling, was love.

 

The most prominent memory was this:

_Sam and Cas watch as Dean says his last goodbyes. He is going to sacrifice himself to save the world._

_“I could go with you,” Cas chokes out. This may be the closest thing he’s ever said to ‘I love you’._

_“Sam will need you. You’ve gotta look after him now. Goodbye, Cas.” Cas nods and steps away as Chuck sends him to Amara._

 

_The group watches the sky to see if it changes. If it fades from orange to blue, then it is finished. And Dean is dead._

 

_For what seems like hours, Sam and Cas watch the sky until finally, blue hues begin to appear._

_Sam surprisingly holds it together, only letting a few tears escape his glossy eyes._

_Castiel, on the other hand, breaks down. He is sobbing hysterically as Sam pulls him into a tight hug._

_“I… l-loved…” He croaks between sobs. “I know,” Sam replies, rubbing Cas’ back._

  
  


Castiel loves Dean Winchester.

 

That is very clear to Gabriel.

From the memories, it seemed as if Dean loved him back and never told him.

But now, this Dean barely even trusts Cas, let alone loves him.

 

Instead of expressing direct emotion, colors swarm around angels. But only archangels can see this.

There are thousands of color combinations. No two combinations or emotions are the same for two angels.

 

As everyone is sitting at the table discussing plans, Gabriel can see a deep azure color pooling around Castiel.

Love, mixed with grave amounts of sadness.

Castiel is depressed.

 

Gabriel reaches out with his grace to comfort him.

Castiel looks up at Gabriel. He feels the archangel’s grace growing closer, so he puts up a wall.

It’s blocking Gabriel from reaching him and seeing his emotions. No angel should have enough power to block out an archangel’s grace. But with God’s grace boost, who knows what Castiel can accomplish.

Gabriel looks at Castiel with sad, and a little bit stunned, eyes as Castiel stares at the floor.

  
  


The group has been silent for a while, watching the two angels, but they don’t seem to notice the talking stopped.

Gabriel is looking at Castiel as if someone just killed his puppy.

Castiel is staring at the floor as if it’s the most interesting thing in the world.

“You two okay?” Sam asks finally.

 

Gabriel looks up when Sam speaks. “What? Oh, uh, yeah just thinking.” The archangel smiles unconvincingly.

The group looks at Castiel, who is still staring at the floor.

“Castiel?” Dean says to the angel, who continues to stare, “Hey! Cas! You with us?” Castiel looks up, startled.

“What’s wrong?” Sam asks, deeply concerned with the angel’s expression.

Castiel is now staring wide eyed at Dean, tears threatening to spill over.

“You-You called me Cas…” he says quietly.

“Oh no…” Gabriel whispers, recalling memories from Castiel.

Castiel continues to stare at Dean, face morphing from the many emotions he’s feeling. Joy at hearing his old nickname. Happiness that Dean called him that. Sad that was the last thing Dean ever said to him. That one word. And now all he feels is sadness. His ocean blue eyes become glossy with tears and he disappears.

 

In Dean’s confusion, he turns to Gabriel. “What did I do?”

Gabriel sighs, “Nothing. Cas is the nickname you gave him in his timeline. It also happens to be the last thing you ever said to him,” he stands up, “I’ll go get him. He’s in his heaven right now. I can guarantee it.”

With a snap of his fingers, the archangel disappears.

 

Bobby is the first one to speak. “The last thing you ever said? What’s that supposed to mean?”

The room goes quiet as Sam and Bobby turn towards Dean, who is staring at the floor thinking.

“I think...,” he starts, “I think I died…” He looks up at Sam. “ _When_ did I die? _How_ did I die? And _why_ is Cas, a freakin _angel_ , so upset about it?”

Dean turns and storms off to think.

“Well that could have gone better,” Bobby mutters.


	3. Gabriel's Shocking Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something bad happens to Castiel...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say, I'm really excited for the next few chapters after what I wrote here.

After leaving the Bobby’s house, Gabriel goes to the only place in heaven where he won’t be noticed right away.

Heaven’s jail.

 

Gabriel knows that if he has any chance of staying hidden from heaven, he can’t let any angels see him. To make matters worse, the angels will probably sense him before they even get close to him.

So Gabriel does the only thing he can think of. 

Becomes human. 

Temporarily anyway. 

Castiel’s favorite heaven is warded. It keeps other angels from knowing if an angel is inside of said heaven or not. Once Gabriel reaches that heaven, where Castiel most certainly is, he will be safe to become an archangel again.

 

Popping in front of the last, and thankfully empty, cell in heaven’s jail, Gabriel works on becoming human. 

 

Since his vessel isn’t actually a regular human per say, Gabriel uses his powers to make a heaven for his body under the name of Ross Turner. That way, of he is caught, he will be sent there and the angels will think he is a regular human who accidently got out of his heaven.

 

An angel must have sensed something and he can hear one approaching. 

Gabriel closes his eyes and concentrates. 

 

Being a god and all has it’s perks. One of which happens to be access to old pagan magic.

He reaches into the core of his grace and recites an old pagan spell.

The power builds behind the words.

Gabriel can feel his grace growing hotter and hotter, folding in on itself. It’s burning inside of him, but he can’t cry out. The angels would hear and come running.

Just when he thinks he can’t bear the pain any longer, it vanishes. 

Gabriel opens his eyes and breathes a sigh of relief. His grace is now hidden and he appears human.

 

Just when he thinks he’s in the clear, he remembers the angel that was closing in. A guard, no doubt, keeping watch over heaven’s fugitives.

He spins around to see said angel turn the corner looking very tense.

Knowing he won’t be able to get away from the angel in human form, he does the most human thing he can think of to do in this situation.

He freezes, eyes wide, and looks scared of the angel.

 

“Where am I?” Gabriel squeaks, cowering the slightest bit.

The angel relaxes. “It’s just an escaped soul!” he yells over his shoulder, probably at the rest of the guard that was hunting down a possible escaped angel.

The guard steps up to Gabriel, who still appears frightened. “You’re in heaven. Not your heaven though. This,” he motions to the empty cells around him, “Is not for human souls. What is your name? I will return you to your rightful place.”

Gabriel musters up his best shaky voice and replies, “R-Ross. Ross Turner.”

The guard closes his eyes, probably looking for Ross Turner’s heaven. 

He opens his eyes, finding it. He holds out his hand to the seemingly still terrified ‘Ross’. “Let’s go,” he says warmly.

Gabriel takes his hand and he suddenly figures out why everyone always complains about flying.

 

As an angel, flying is the best feeling in the world. The wind rolling over your wings, even if just for half a second, feels extraordinary. 

As a human though, it fricken sucks. 

Vertigo hits Gabriel like a brick as he touches down in his heaven.

Waves of nausea flow through him.

Hands on his knees, he heaves and tries to catch his breath. 

 

When the worst of it is over, he looks up.

As predicted, the guard has vanished.

Gabriel straightens up, cracking his back as he takes a long, slow breath.

Looking around, he takes in the sight of the heaven he made.

 

It’s an endless field. Tall, green grasses seemingly look like waves in the faint breeze. The sky is a light blue with small, puffy clouds dotting here and there. A very,  _ very _ large willow tree is the only thing around other than grass. It’s long branches sweep over the grass around it, making what appears to be a curtain.

Gabriel walks over and pushes through the wispy branches. 

Underneath the tree’s branches is a clear area, the leaves making somewhat of a sheltered, circular inclosure, almost like a cave. 

At the trunk of the tree is a small table covered in different shapes and colors of candies and sweets. The heaven wouldn’t be quite to Gabriel’s taste without it.

He ignores the sugary desserts. 

“No time for that right now,” he mutters as he looks for the ‘doorknob’ back into the halls of heaven.

Unable to find it anywhere on the tree itself, he moves to the food, examining each piece.

Gabriel spots a single lollipop stick, minus the candy on top, sticking out of a pile of empty wrappers. 

“Gotcha,” he says with a grin as he pulls the stick out.

 

A  _ pop _ is heard and the bright outline of a door appears on the giant tree’s trunk. 

Gabriel takes a breath, and slips through.

 

Gabriel knows Castiel’s heaven is close by. He didn’t choose the name ‘Ross Turner’ for nothing. The person who’s heaven Castiel’s actually belongs to was named Reggie Turner, so it’s pretty close to where Gabriel’s heaven is. 

 

Gabriel quietly walks along, reading the various names on the doors as he passes them. Who knew people could find so many different ways to spell Reggie? 

It takes a little bit longer than expected, but soon Gabriel is standing in front of a white door labeled, Reggie Q. Turner: March 24, 1920 - May 18, 1963.

Worried about how Castiel is doing, he flicks his grace back on, is met with that comfortable warmth of being an archangel, and steps through the door.

 

  
Every time Gabriel has gone into this heaven, it’s always been a bright, sunny day. Not a cloud in the sky.

 

But that is definitely not today.

 

It’s dark. Very dark. Nighttime, probably. There are dark clouds stretching thickly over the sky so that not a single light shines through.

Even with the lack of light, Gabriel can see the dark figure of Castiel.

He is sitting on a bench, head in his hands.

The emotional wall Castiel put up is slightly cracked (Gabriel finds this odd, but brushes it off), but still blocking Gabriel from truly knowing what he is feeling. Deep down, Gabriel knows he is hurting. 

 

He is about to go to Castiel when he catches movement. 

Gabriel watches from behind a tree as another figure slowly works it’s way towards Castiel.

Suddenly, the glint of an angel blade catches in the non-existent light.

Gabriel shoots up and runs to Castiel. He yells “Stop!” in his true voice, causing the other figure to jump.

 

The clouds immediately dissipate and the three are bathed in bright moonlight.

“Drop the blade, or I will kill you,” Gabriel growls.

The angel blade disappears and the other angel, who is facing away from Gabriel, puts his hands into the air as a sign of surrender.

“I do not advise killing this angel,” Castiel murmurs quietly into his hands without looking up.

“Why the hell not! He was going to kill you!” Gabriel barks.

With this, he steps forward and turns the angel so he is now facing him. 

He is met with frightened, deep blue eyes, wild black hair, and a dirty trench coat. 

“Castiel?” Gabriel asks startled. 

The other Castiel just stares in response, stunned by Gabriel’s presence.

“Gabriel…?” He asks tentatively. 

Gabriel looks from Castiel to Castiel, again and again, thinking.

 

The future Castiel has a power boost, so it was obvious he knew Gabriel was there by his lack of reaction to Gabriel yelling in his true voice. There wasn’t so much as a flinch given by him. So if he knew Gabriel was there, he knew the Castiel of now was there as well. Which means…

“You knew he was going to stab you?!” Gabriel booms at Castiel.

He lifts his head and stands up. His eyes are glossy and his face is puffy from crying.

“Of course I knew,” Castiel spouts.

Gabriel is angry. “And what? You didn’t care you were about to be killed?”

Gabriel watches as Castiel’s eyes go from angry, to saddened, to pained.

Castiel looks at the ground, defeated.

Taken aback by Castiel’s lack of response, he lays a hand on his shoulder.

Unsure of what to say, Gabriel sends a wave of comforting grace into Castiel, who softens at the touch.

 

Gabriel turns to face the Castiel of now, who is still staring at Gabriel in astonishment. “I’m sorry about that Castiel,” he pauses, “Wait. Why are you in here anyway?”

After a few moments of searching, the other Castiel finds his voice, “I was going to reflect on my mission here before I went to visit the righteous man, Dean Winchester. I found this…” he looks to future Castiel, “Whatever this is, in here and I intended to destroy it. It is not meant to be here.”

“Well that,” Gabriel throws a finger back at the other man, “is future you. So you would have just been hurting yourself.”

Gabriel watches the Castiel of now with a confused feeling. 

Castiel is looking at his future self with a horrific expression. 

Gabriel turns and is shocked by what he sees.

Future Castiel’s face is scrunched up in pain. He’s doubled over, hands holding his head. Sweat is forming rapidly on his open skin. Blood is streaming out of his ears and nose. Different colors are shooting through his veins like light. Blues and purples and reds, always those colors. He is breathing heavily, trying not to yell out in pain.

Gabriel rushes over to help, but hits an invisible wall of power surrounding Castiel.

Looking closely, he realizes that Castiel isn’t breathing heavily, but yelling out,  _ screaming _ in agony. The strange force field is sound proof.

Gabriel punches the wall with all of his archangel strength, expecting it to shatter. It’s not the wall that shatters, but his hand. 

He falls to his knees, cradling his right hand. He looks back at Castiel, wondering just how powerful he might become if just a simple  _ wall _ could do this to an archangel.

 

As suddenly as everything started, it all stops.

Castiel falls to the ground limply, unconscious.

Gabriel tries to heal his hand, but it refuses to be healed for some reason. He turns to the Castiel of now. “You said you were going to go see Dean Winchester?” he asks the stunned angel.

Unable to form words, Castiel nods quickly. 

“Well  _ go! _ We might need your help there later.”

Castiel disappears.

Gabriel goes to Castiel, who is still not moving.

Gabriel feels his grace. He’s still alive, but barely.    
He tries shaking, yelling, and everything he can think of to wake Castiel up, but the angel appears to be in a coma-like state.

Gabriel puts a hand on the angel’s chest, trying to see what the angel is feeling. 

The wall that was put up to block emotions has shattered. Whatever happened to Castiel was bad.  _ Very  _ bad. Gabriel has never seen anything like it and can’t seem to fix it.

Gabriel is shocked by what he feels pumping through Castiel’s mind and grace. He feels pain. Pain, agony, torture, sadness, heartbreak, grief, regret, mourning. Hell. It was Castiel’s own, personal hell, and it was all happening inside his head.

 

Knowing Castiel won’t wake up anytime soon, he touches his forehead with his left hand and transports them to the Winchesters.

  
  
  


“They’ve been gone for like, an hour!” Dean yells as he storms out of his room. The stench of whiskey follows him.

“Calm down, Dean,” Sam tries to sooth his brother, “I’m sure they’re fine.”

Dean stops and looks around. “Where’s Bobby?”

“Went to go get some more beer, among other things.”

“Thank god,” Dean sighs as he plops down on the dusty old couch, rubbing his face.

A flap of wings is heard and the two Winchesters look up to see a flustered Castiel standing there. 

His eyes run over Sam and the room before settling on Dean.

“Dean Winchester-” Before Castiel can continue, Dean has him in a bear hug.

“I’m sorry Cas. Just… Don’t do that again. You had me worried sick, man.”

When Castiel doesn’t hug back, Dean moves away.

The angel cocks his head, blue eyes staring at Dean. He asks, “Do not do  _ what _ again?”

Suddenly, Gabriel appears with his fingers on the forehead of a bloody, sweaty, and unconscious Castiel.

Sam and Dean look from Castiel to Castiel to Castiel to, wait, which one was Cas again?

“Don’t just stand there goddammit,” Gabriel stands up, cradling his right hand, “Help him!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's really going on inside of Castiel's head? I will either address this question in the next chapter or the one after that. 
> 
> I am probably going to do the next chapter as a pov of the other characters and then see what's happing in Cas' head. 
> 
> I appreciate the reviews, kudos, and bookmarks!! :)


	4. Blue, Purple, Red. Blue, Purple, Red.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean tries to help Cas.
> 
> Bobby gets confused.
> 
> Everyone wants this to be over.

Working as if he were a soldier, Dean immediately rushes over to Castiel (Cas? Yeah, definitely Cas), picks him up, and carries him to his room.

 

He lays down the unconscious angel on his bed softly.

He slips the old shoes and socks off of Castiel’s feet.

Dean works on removing the blood stained and sweat drenched clothing next.

He leans Castiel’s head on his shoulder that is still burning from that strange handprint as he slips the old trench coat off the angel’s shoulders. 

Dean sets Castiel down on the bed again and continues his task. Pulling off the worn, blue tie. Unbuttoning the wrinkled, white shirt. Removing the belt and slightly muddy pants.

Castiel is wearing nothing but a plaid pair of boxers that just so happen to match the color of his eyes.

Dean steps back and marvels at the angel. 

What seemed to be a scrawny little man in that too-big trench coat was actually nicely toned with even, strong muscles.

Snapped out of his daze by the noise of someone complaining loudly downstairs, Dean quickly lays a soft blanket over the angel’s body.

Rushing to the bathroom, Dean wets a cloth and sets to work on wiping the blood from Castiel’s sleeping face.

He grimaces at Castiel’s uneven breathing and sporadic heartbeat as he cleans the blood from his nose and ears.

 

When he is finished, Dean stares at the comatose angel. There’s something about him… Dean can’t quite tell what it is yet, but it’s calling to him. 

He ruffles Castiel’s hair for a brief second before standing up and going to his duffel bag.

Rummaging around for a moment, he pulls out a black ACDC tee shirt and a gray pair of sweatpants. He knows Cas will want some clean clothes when he wakes up.

 

If he wakes up.

 

“That’s it,” Dean mumbles through his clenched teeth.

Dean shuts the door to his room quietly, turns, and storms down the stairs.

  
  


“But it’s my hand that’s broken,” Gabriel wines, “It hurts to moooooove.”

“That’s what it feels like when you break your arm. I would know. I jumped off a shed once. Now shut up and stop moving,” Sam replies as he finishes wrapping the dark blue color around the angel’s arm.

Gabriel lets out a long sigh, looking at his unhealing arm. “Well, thanks Samsquatch.” 

He stands up and pats Sam on the back just as Dean storms in, seemingly in a mission.

“What the hell happened to Cas?!” Dean demands.

 

Gabriel leads the two brothers into the living room.

He is startled by the other Castiel awkwardly sitting up straight on the couch. 

“Oh. Forgot ‘Mr. Stab Myself’ was still here,” Gabriel says before plopping down in a chair.

Sam sits in the only other chair, so Dean is forced to sit next to the other Castiel.

They make uncomfortable eye contact for a few seconds too long before Dean turns to Gabriel.

“Tell me now,” he demands.

 

“Welllll…” Gabriel starts, “Cas was upset, so he went to his happy place. His own little heaven. Little did he know, scratch that, actually he did know, past him was also there. He was on his way to see you,” he points to Dean.

“Why me?” Dean asks.

Castiel looks like he’s going to respond, but Gabriel beats him to it.

“I’ll tell ya later. Back to Cas. He got a boost from God before he came here and doesn’t know how powerful he is or will be. He was so overwhelmed with memories and emotions, which, by the way, are  _ way _ too intense for an angel to be experiencing. Well, I’m not really sure he is qualified as a regular angel anymore…” Gabriel drifts off into his thoughts for a moment before continuing, “Anyway, long story short, his memories and emotions overwhelmed his grace and mind, causing some kind of physical reaction, which caused a force field keeping me from helping him, which caused some other things I’m not sure of, which caused him to fall into a coma of some sort.”

“Angels can go into comas?” Sam asks curiously, but still worriedly.

Gabriel shrugs and leans back into his chair. “Apparently so. Except it’s not just some regular un-thinking coma. He’s in his own hell.”

Dean visibly flinches at the mention of hell.

The group looks to him, eyes filled with worry.

Dean looks panicked for a moment before he grunts, “It’s fine. Keep going.”

“Basically… I don’t know what Castiel is going through,” Gabriel sighs.

 

Just then, the four of them hear Cas yell out.

All the glass and mirrors inside of the house shatter with the force of his true voice yelling out in pain.

Without a second thought, Dean is up the stairs and at Cas’ side.

He is shivering and whimpering softly.

Dean puts a hand on his forehead, but pulls it away quickly, shaking it off with a hiss.

He just  _ burned _ his hand on Castiel’s  _ forehead _ . 

Dean’s surprised Castiel isn’t on fire.

“It won’t hurt him,” a voice says.

Dean turns around to see Gabriel leaning against the doorframe.

“He’s more powerful than all of heaven right now and I don’t even think he’s at full power yet. A fever won’t kill him,” he licks his finger, puts it in the air, and pauses, “Even if his fever is 198 degrees.”

Dean visibly pales.

Gabriel snaps his fingers and Castiel is suddenly covered in bags and bags of frozen peas in an effort to cool him down.

Dean smiles slightly, but it never reaches his eyes.

 

The two of them return to the living room grudgingly.

The sound of an old Chevelle is heard coming up the driveway.

A few footsteps and key jingles later, and Bobby steps through the door with a bag full of booze.

He freezes, looking at the worried faces of everyone there.

Bobby looks at them questioningly before closing the door and stepping inside.

When his foot steps down, crunching glass in heard.

Looking around in shock, Bobby sees all the glass and mirrors that were in his home,  are now shattered on the floors and tables.

“What the hell?”

Castiel steps forward.

“Robert Singer. My name is Castiel. I am an angel of the lord.”

Bobby’s face scrunches up in confusion as he sets the bag down on a table.

“I already knew that, ya idjit.”

Bobby turns to the stairs when a deep groan is heard that vibrates the house.

“I got him,” Dean mutters before he is up the stairs and out of sight.

“What the hell was that?”

“That was Cas,” Sam responds absently as he reaches in the bag and pulls out a beer.

Bobby looks at Gabriel, very confused, when his eyes fall on a blue cast.

He points to it. “What the hell is that?”

Gabriel holds up his arm with a fake smile. “Broken arm. Yay me. And no, I can’t heal it.”

Bobby looks at his shoes, still confused.

Dean comes back down the stairs.

“Cas is fine for now.”

Bobby looks up again, face filled to the brim with confusion.

“What the hell?”

Sam guides Bobby to sit down, since he’s obviously too confused at the moment to move.

“See this guy here?” Gabriel points to Castiel, “This is Castiel. From this timeline.” The house vibrates again. Gabriel points up, “And that… Is Castiel. From the future.”

Obviously about to ask ‘what the hell’ again, Gabriel continues, “Future Castiel had an accident when I went to see him in heaven and we ran into now Castiel. Future Castiel is now in a coma like thingy. This Castiel has never met any of you before so that’s why he introduced himself.”

Bobby just gives up trying to understand.

He looks to Castiel. “Which one are you?”

“I am the me of this time.”

“And where’s Castiel?”

“I am right here.”

“No, not you. The other one.”

“My apologies. Castiel is upstairs.”

Sam steps in. “How about future Castiel is called Cas and you,” he points to Castiel of now, “Are Castiel.”

The group nods in agreement.

  
“Gabriel!” Dean yells from his room.

Gabriel’s eyes go wide. “It’s happening again…”

In a blink of an eye, everyone is in Dean’s room.

A glowing force field is surrounding Cas.

His silent screams are hard to watch. He is shouting something, but the word can’t be made out.

The colors are once again pumping through his veins. Blue, purple, red. Blue, purple, red. Always those colors...

“What’s going on?!” Dean asks frantically.

“Help him!” Sam yells.

Gabriel closes his eyes and breathes out.

Everyone, minus Cas, is back in the living room when his eyes open.

“That’s the same thing that happened in heaven. There’s nothing anyone can do to help him right now…” 

The group reluctantly dispurses. Some downing booze, others sleeping, others returning to heaven. 

But Dean is still standing there, thinking hard.

Gabriel said that Cas is in his own hell right now… Dean knows how horrific hell can truly be.

He won’t admit remembering everything about hell just yet, but he hopes that was Cas is going through isn’t as bad. But by the look of Cas right now, he doubts that it’s any better.

Dean walks off to grab a bottle of whiskey from the bag.

He downs half of it in the first gulp, drunkenness already tingling at the end of his senses.

  
Little did anyone know, a certain angel locked in his own mind is silently screaming for Dean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is inside of Castiel's mind. I'm kinda nervous about writing it. There's so much I want to do with it.
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for all the reviews, kudos, and bookmarks!!!!


	5. Demon Dean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories of bad times drag Cas down. 
> 
> Dean is determined to get to him.

Castiel’s veins pump the blue-purple-red combination every hour for the next two days. 

The silent shock waves slowly got stronger and stronger. 

They started by breaking almost everything inside the house. Then the scrap yard. Then Sioux Falls. At the worst of it, the whole state of North Dakota lost power for a few hours. 

After two days of impatiently waiting, Dean has had enough. 

He stands up from Cas’ bedside and marches into the living room. 

 

“That's it,” he announces, startling everyone from their books, “I have to get into his head somehow. I need to see what's going on. I could help him.”

Sam and Bobby shrug, not knowing anyway to get into someone's mind. 

Gabriel thinks for a moment before springing up. 

He snaps his fingers and strange, yellowish sticks appear in a small plastic bag in his hand. 

“When I was going through Cas’ memories, there was something about dream root that allows you to dreamwalk,” his smile falters, “But you can get killed inside another person’s mind…” 

He tosses the bag onto the shelf. 

“Oh well,” he huffs, plopping down onto the couch.

“Wait!” Dean yells, running to the shelf and taking the bag in his hand, “I’ll do it.”

“Dean, you heard him. You could get killed. I just got you back. Don't go,” Sam pleads. 

“Damn right,” Bobby adds. 

Dean turns to Gabriel. “What do I have to do?”

 

Dean downs the yellow liquid. 

“Damn that's nasty,” Sam says as Dean’s face scrunches up in disgust. 

Sam decided to go along with Dean just in case he needs backup.

They are sitting side by side in two chairs next to Cas on the bed. 

“Ya idjits…” Bobby sighs as he leaves the room. 

“Good luck. And remember that Cas here is millennia old. There's a lot rocking around in there, so watch out for yourselves,” Gabriel says to the brothers. 

Sam and Dean nod and sit there for another moment. 

“How long does this take to-” Dean passes out mid sentence. 

Sam follows not a few seconds later. 

  
  


_ Cas. 3 days ago.  _

 

_ Cas can hear the past version of himself creeping up on him, angel blade drawn and ready to strike.  _

_ The pain of losing Dean,  _ his _ Dean, is just too much.  _

_ He has a chance to make this all better, but it won’t be like it used to. _

_ Sadness, grief, heartbreak. It's all pounding inside his head. And it hurts. So much so, that it cracks the wall that's keeping his emotions from being read by Gabriel.  _

_ It's as if a dam holding back the ocean is shattering into millions of pieces.  _

_ He senses colors escaping.  _

_ Blue, for sadness and heartbreak. Purple, for grief and regret. Red for anger and pain. _

_ Wanting it all to be over, he acts like he doesn't hear himself approaching. _

_ Maybe, just  _ maybe _ , the angel blade will hurt him.  _

_ The pain could distract him from his thoughts... _

_ Just then, Gabriel pops out of the bushes to confront his past self.  _

 

_ Cas talks to Gabriel, who soon reaches a horrifying conclusion.  _

_ Cas doesn’t care if he dies. _

_ He wants to tell Gabriel that it hurts too much. That his emotions are overwhelming him. That they’re stronger than before. That he  _ feels _ and it’s too much. But he doesn't. _

_ He keeps everything bottled inside, just like always. _

 

_ While Gabriel talks to his past self, Cas begins to feel a strange power bubble underneath his skin.  _

_ ‘Too much,’ his grace screams to him, ‘Too much!’ _

_ Watching his hands, he sees his veins light up with the colors that first broke through his emotional wall. _

_ Blue. _

_ Purple. _

_ Red. _

_ It feels like fire in his veins and it  _ hurts.  _ Badly. _

 

_ Cas tries to call out for Gabriel to help him. To do something.  _ Anything.

_ Cas’ grace and unknown power burns through him like fire. _

_ He yells out in his true voice, louder and stronger than ever before. _

_ No one can hear him... _

_ The pressure in Cas’ head causes his ears and nose to start dripping blood. _

_ He holds his head, begging, praying, for the pain to stop. _

_ His wings begin to become heavy, dropping to the ground as they turn colder than ice. _

 

_ Cas can vaguely hear Gabriel calling to him, but he collapses. Everything goes black. _

  
  


_ Cas goes into a comatose-like state. _

_ Unresponsive to light, pain, movement.You would think he is dead by the way his body simply lays there, unmoving. _

_ Little did the outside world know, his mind had turned into his prison. _

  
  


_ When Cas first woke up inside his mind, he was confused and dizzy. _

_ Looking around, he sees an endless, flat, red-dirt field. The sky is dark, but there is still light. A light almost like… Hell fire. _

_ Cas begins to panic. He needs to get back. Where is he? _

_ He is knocked clean over, seemingly by nothing. _

_ That’s when he realizes what’s happening. _

 

_ It’s a demon. Dean. Demon Dean Winchester. _

_ ‘It’s my mind,’ Castiel realizes, ‘I’m trapped in my mind.’ _

_ The emotions he felt towards Dean as a demon were strong. He was angry this happened. At himself, Crowley, even Dean. He was sad that this could have happened to the most righteous man in the universe. He was determined to do everything in his power to turn Dean back. _

_ This was a powerful memory, therefore a powerful spirit of sorts. _

 

_ Dean picks Cas up by the lapels on his trench coat, smiling devilishly. _

_ Cas shudders against his grip. _

_ “We’re gonna have so much fun, aren’t we Castiel?” Dean leans in closely so their noses are almost touching, “This is what you get for changing me back into a human.” _

 

_ Cas finds himself suspended in the air by searing hot chains, much like how Dean was in hell. _

_ Large hooks dig into his shoulders, torso, and legs, his grace peeking through the wounds as blood pours out. _

_ His wings are pulled tightly above him, wrapped in icy shackles. _

_ ‘Can I die in my own mind?’ Cas asks himself. _

_ He realizes the demon can hear his thoughts when he replies, “You'll wish you could when I’m done with you…” _

  
  


He could count every minute that passed by when it all first started. The cutting, burning, frying, skinning, boiling. The torture given to him by the one thing he cherished most in the world. Dean Winchester.

Cas doesn’t know how long he’s been locked in his mind. The minutes and hours and days all bled together. It could have been months for all he knew.

He’s called for Dean,  _ his _ Dean, to help him more times than he can count, but he never came.

 

“No more.  _ Please _ ,” Cas begs.

Cas trembles as Dean made a thin line across his cheekbone.

The world around them shakes and the demon plunges a knife into Cas’ left wing close to his back.

He yells out in pain.

The demon’s eyes flicker to black and he smiles that evil smile he’s been doing lately.

“Looks like we have visitors…” 

He snaps his fingers and Cas drops to the ground, chains falling off.

Cas tries to fly away, but his wings are too weak and the knife keeps his left wing from moving.

 

Cas looks up at the demon to see him glaring off behind his back.

He turns around to see Sam and Dean looking around off in the distance.

“Dean!” Cas calls.

The brothers turn towards the noise and see the angel.

“Run!”

 

At that moment, Demon Dean teleports himself and Cas to another place in Cas’ mind. 

The place where his worst memories are stored.

“Have fun!” the demon calls before disappearing.

Worriedly, Cas looks around. His face instantly pales when he sees what memory this is. 

 

He is standing in the bunker, which the Winchesters of now have yet to find. 

Dean is walking angrily up to him, shirt bloody and an evil glare in his eyes.

Cas tries to turn and run, but Dean grabs his coat, punching him in the face over and over again.

Dean throws him onto the piano, repeatedly banging his head on it.

He’s crying as Dean slams him on the ground, grabbing his angel blade. 

Cas makes eye contact with Dean. His eyes were throwing hateful stares at him before Dean slams the angel blade down right next to Cas’ head.

Cas sobs as Dean walks off and he is left alone to be thrown into another bad memory.

  
  
  


Sam and Dean hear Cas calling. “Dean!” he yells.

They turn to see Cas lying pathetically on the ground a few thousand yards away. He’s covered in cuts, bruises, blood, and some strange glowing stuff. Dean doesn’t know anymore. He just knows Cas needs his help. A man is standing over him, covered in the angel’s blood. His face is shadowed, disguising who he is, but Sam catches the glint of black eyes.

“Run!” Cas all but screams.

And suddenly, Cas and the man are gone.

Sam and Dean stand alone in the vastness of Cas’ mind.

“Cas?” Dean calls, running over to where he was just on the ground.    
Sam follows behind.

 

They arrive at the spot the angel just was minutes before.

Chains, hooks, and various knives litter the ground along with a pool of deep red blood.

Dean falls to his knees, memories of hell overwhelming him.

“It was a demon…” Sam says quietly.

That snaps Dean out of his haze. Looking to Sam, he questions him, “Demon? In Cas’ mind? How? Who was it?”

Sam helps his brother up and they just stare at the pool of blood.

 

“God. I wish the angel would just die already,” Dean’s voice says.

Sam looks at Dean, horrified. “Why would you say that Dean?” he asks.

Dean looks up at Sam, a far off look in his eyes. “I didn’t say that Sammy…”

“Well. Technically, you did,” Dean’s voice says again.

Sam and Dean spin around to see, well,  _ Dean _ standing in front of them.

“What?...” Sam says. Dean is still staring at himself. There’s  _ two _ of him.

“I- slash you-,” he points to Dean, “Said I wish the angel would just  _ die _ already. As much fun as it is torturing him, I’d much rather see him die for what he did to me. You see, I’m a memory spirit. I’m a memory inside of Cassie boy’s noggin that got a  _ little _ too much juice during his big god powerup. Now I can have my revenge,” he smiles a hellish smile.

“Why would I want to hurt Cas? And what did he do to me? Are you working with the demon in here?.”

“That’s a  _ very _ long story for another time,” the other Dean says, scratching absently on a strange mark on his arm.

“Holy shit,” Sam breathes as he pushes himself and Dean away from the other Dean.

“What?”

“That’s the fricken Mark of Cain, Dean.”

Dean glances at it for a moment.

“Why the hell would I get that?”

The other Dean takes a step forward. Sam and Dean take a step back.

“Another long, boring, and pointless story. But thank god I got it, huh. Or I’d never be the man I am now!” he steps uncomfortably close to the brothers, “Now then. You asked why I want revenge and if I’m working with the demon in here. First, Cas changed me back to human. Second,” Other Dean’s eyes flicker to black, “I’m actually a Knight of Hell.”

 

Sam and Dean turn to run, but find themselves in chains.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Demon Dean shakes his head, “Not so fast.”

“How did I turn into a demon…” Dean asks quietly through gritted teeth.

The demons leans down, the closeness making Dean uneasy.

“You’ll have to find out the hard way,” he grins evilly.

He turns to Sam. “You’ve always been the smart one Sammy. You can decide your fates,” he stands up, “You can either be chained in here forever. Never dying, while I have my way with both of you.  _ Or _ … You can go through Cas’ worst memories and most likely die brutally and bloody. Your choice.”

“Will I be able to find Cas?” Dean asks. 

The demon laughs. “I always did have an attachment to that angel…” he sighs, “Yeah. But you’ll be too dead before that.”

“We’ll take our chances,” Sam says.

Demon Dean smiles devilishly once again before he snaps his fingers.

Sam really hopes they can find Cas in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to split this chapter into two (maybe three) parts.


	6. The Man in the Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chasing after Cas, Sam and Dean find out more than they bargained for.

 

Sam and Dean find themselves in a strange library-type room.

There’s a huge pile of books drenched in, what smells like gasoline, behind them. Three dead bodies are in the room, one being a high school student.

One man was stabbed to death.

The other two were shot in the head.

Sam and Dean shuddered slightly at the thought of killing a kid.

 

The brothers are unsure of what to do with themselves. Cas was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps comes from the hallway.

They watch as another Dean stands there, drenched in blood, gun on his belt, staring at Dean.

Dean shivers at the thought that he would kill a kid. And this version of him isn’t even a demon, by the use of the gun in the room.

 

“Cas. I told you not to come back, you son of a bitch,” he says to Dean, hatred in his eyes.

Sam and Dean exchange confused glances. 

“Uh, where  _ is _ Cas?” Dean asks, stepping forward.

“You can’t risk damning the world just to save  _ me.” _

Realization dawns on Sam. “Dean, it’s a memory. It thinks your Cas…” he says quietly.

The other Dean walks forward menacingly. “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance,” he growls, voiced laced with contempt.

 

Before Dean has a chance to react, the other Dean grabs his shoulders and slams him onto the already bloodied piano.

Sam tries to pull the other Dean away, but is knocked away effortlessly.

“Dean!” Sam calls as the other Dean slams Dean’s head into the piano, bringing him close to unconsciousness.

Dean is thrown into a pool of blood on the ground. Cas’ blood most likely.

The other Dean spits out insufferable words like lightning as he reaches for a strange silver blade sticking out of the floor.

 

Dean barely dodges to the right, blade clipping his ear.

He looks up and hardly recognizes himself.

The man leaning over him definitely  _ looks _ like him. But his eyes tell a different story. They are filled with self hatred and rage. Contempt, hatred, loathing, all apparently for Cas.

The other Dean effortlessly yanks the blade out of the ground for the second time and slams it down towards Dean’s face.

Dean grabs the other’s wrist, pushing against it with all his strength. The vein in his neck is bulging with the strain of the other Dean forcing the blade towards his face.

Despite his best efforts, the sharp tip of the blade was steadily growing closer.

_ ‘I’m done for… _ ’ Dean thinks to himself.

Without warning, Sam slams a large stick down on the other Dean’s head. He immediately falls to the ground, clutching the back of his head where the stick had his him. 

Dean catches his breath and gets upl standing defensively next to Sam.

 

The other Dean flickers for a moment, visible, not visible. As if a light switch were being turned on and off.

He then looks up a Sam and Dean.

“Sammy?” he asks questioningly. He looks to Dean, eyes filled with confusion. He looks around, presumably looking for Cas, when his eyes fall to the stick, still gripped tightly in Sam’s hands.

His face fills with terror. “Oh no…” he says.

His breathing becomes fast and heavy. Sweat begins to bead on his skin. The other Dean yells out before be spontaneously combusts, filling the room with the eerie glow of his burning body.

In a matter of seconds, the other Dean is a smoldering pile of ash.

 

Sam and Dean stare in shocked silence. 

Dean looks down at the stick in Sam’s hands. “What the hell is that thing?”

“I don’t know. I found it on a bookshelf in the other room,” he says as he grabs a tag hanging off of it, “Staff of Moses,” he reads, “DO NOT TOUCH.”

Sam throws the stick to the ground and proceeds to examine his hands for any sign of, well, anything. Seeing that he is fine, he sighs in relief.

“So… What just happened?” Dean asks, turning away from the ash pile.

“I think I snapped you out of the memory by hitting you with that,” Sam points to the stick on the ground, “And then that thing killed you…”

_ Huh _ was all that Dean said before looking around the library.

 

Millions of lore books occupy its shelves, along with objects and artifacts they’ve never heard of before.

Dean walks down the hallway and Sam follows.

“Where are you going?” Sam asks as he catches up.

“Finding Cas? Looking around? I dunno, man. I just want to figure out what this place is,” Dean replies.

 

The two of them keep walking down various hallways until they arrive at a door that is slightly ajar.

Sam throws a wary glance at Dean before Dean pushes the door open and flips on the light switch.

The brothers are shocked with what they find.

Guns and knives line the walls of the bedroom. Beer bottles litter the nightstand. There’s a box of old cassette tapes,  _ Dean’s _ cassette tapes, on the desk, along with a hunter’s journal and some pictures.

Dean picks the pictures up and flips through them.

Three of them match the ones he has in his wallet. A picture of him and his mom, one of his mom, him, and Sammy, and one of him and Sam leaning against the impala.

The other pictures however, are different.

There’s a picture of him, Cas, and Sam sitting on the impala laughing. Another of him and a red haired girl, both dressed in medieval costumes. Another of him, Sam, and a blonde girl in a roadhouse of some sort, all smiling. Another of him and Cas, arms draped over each other’s shoulders, Dean grinning widely at the camera as Cas looks at him inquisitively with those piercing blue eyes. Another of him and Cas, facing away from whoever is taking the picture, sitting  _ very _ close together on the ground, watching fireworks in the distance.

Dean puts the pictures down and breathes out shakily.

“We live here…” Sam says quietly, “Like… Actually live here…”

Dean nods, unable to form words at the moment.

He steals a glance at the picture of him and Cas sitting close together. “Cas and I were really close,” he mumbles to no one in particular.

Sam grabs the pictures, shoving them into his pocket. “We can ask Cas about these when we find him.”

Dean nods.

 

Suddenly, the brothers begin to feel a tingling sensation. Light touches the edges of their consciousness.

“What’s happening?” Dean asks.

“I think we’re moving memories…” Sam replies.

At that moment, they are no longer standing in, what will eventually be, Dean’s room.


	7. Reunited

  
  


Cas sits strapped to a chair, unable to move, in one of heaven’s reeducation rooms. His head bobs, dazed from moving memory to memory so quickly. He lost track of how many memories he’s been through a while ago now.

Cas jumps when Naomi walks into the white room. She’s wearing that look of disgust she always got when she has forced to deal with Cas.

“N-Naomi…” Cas says weakly, “Please don’t-”

“Silence, Castiel,” she spits. Naomi sits down in a rolling stool next to Cas and picks up a drill, examining it.

Cas begs her using pleading stares, but she scoffs at him. He really doesn’t want to go through this memory again. Naomi’s work was especially painful during this reeducation session. 

“I can’t begin to fathom why you would even  _ think _ of telling the Winchesters that heaven wants the apocalypse. Visiting Dean Winchester in a dream.  _ Pathetic _ ,” she says scornfully as she twists a razor sharp bit of angel blade onto the top of the drill.

“Now then,” she starts, “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

Cas clenches his fists and shuts his eyes tightly, knowing what is coming next.

Using heaven’s power, Naomi forcefully opens Cas’ left eye, lining up the drill bit in front of his cornea.

 

Cas is screaming, his voice and throat raw from the never ending yelling. He’s lost track of time due to his excruciating pain. The feel of the drill through his eye is bad enough, but his  _ grace. _ It’s in agony.

Cas never did find out how Naomi managed to get into an angel’s grace through their eyes, but she always did. And it was always painful.

He knows the reprogramming won’t work, since it’s being done inside his own mind, but he also knows that Naomi won’t stop until he is reprogrammed. So this could go on  _ literally _ forever.

Gathering up all the strength he can muster, Cas wrenches out of the shackles on his wrists. The other restraints fall off almost immediately.

Naomi gasps in surprise. Angels don’t have nearly enough power to break through the warded restraints as Cas just did. Even archangels couldn’t do it. And a measly seraph manages to do it in a swift tug.

The drill flies out of her hand and clatters to the floor.

Cas winces as he touches his slowly healing eye. 

“C-Castiel?...” Naomi questions, blinking as if she is seeing for the first time, “Where… Where am I? This is not heaven,” she looks around frantically, “What’s going on?”

Cas glares at her, eyes full of hatred just as Dean’s were quite a few memories ago. “This is one of my memories,” he replies dully, “We’re in my mind.”

“I don’t understand…”

Before she can ask anymore questions, the drill appears in Cas’ hand and he stabs her in the eye, just as she had done to him not moments ago.

She yells out, energy slowly draining from her.

Cas begins to feel that all too familiar tingling sensation he gets when he moves memories. He looks around frantically. He has to get a message to Sam and Dean. Cas spots a tray of equipment scattered across the floor. He grabs a scalpel from it, wincing as he drags it’s blade across his wrist.

Staggering up to the wall, he quickly paints a message.  _ Sam and Dean, if you see this, do not trust this woman. Please hurry. Castiel. _

He barely manages to finish before he is transported to a new memory. One he remembers far too well.

  
  


Cas looks around him. He is in a graveyard. Glancing down he reads the tombstone.  _ Mary Winchester _ .

His breath hitches. ‘ _ No,’ _ he thinks, ‘ _ Anything but this… _ ’

Cas turns toward voices. Sam, Rowena, Crowley, and Chuck are all standing in a circle, saying their goodbyes to Dean.

Dean is hugging Sam when he looks up over his brother shoulder, making eye contact with Cas, who whimpers slightly in response. This is Cas’ most painful memory, being as it was so recent.

“Cas…” Dean breathes, pulling away from Sam.

“Dean…”

Cas rushes over and throws his arms around the older Winchester’s neck, tears streaming down his face. “Please don’t go,” he whines.

Dean’s arms wrap tightly around the angel, muffling his silent sobs into Cas’ shoulder.

  
  
  
  


Sam and Dean lave been fighting their way through memories, no, scratch that,  _ nightmares, _ for god knows how long. They’ve mostly come out of them unscathed. Except for Sam’s broken arm and a deep gash on Dean’s back. But what makes Dean feel the worst, is the fact that many of the bad memories involve himself.

 

After the now-familiar tingling sensation passes through them, for seemingly the millionth time, they find themselves in a white room. Tools are scattered across the floor. Blood is spattered everywhere. A woman is slumped in the corner, left eye dripping blood, probably from the bloody drill laying next to her. Dean shudders at the sight.

“Dean, check it out,” Sam says. Dean turns to find a message written in crimson blood on the stark white wall. 

“Sam and Dean,” Sam reads, “If you see this, do not trust this woman. Please hurry. Castiel.”

The brothers look over at the woman. “Guess she’s already too dead for that,” Dean says.

“Guess again,” the woman groans.

Sam and Dean jump back, fists ready for a fight, as that is what they’ve been used to lately. Sam winces at the pain in his arm.

“Who are you?” Sam asks.

“And what the hell happened here?” Dean demands.

The woman looks up at the two of them. Her eye slowly begins to heal.

“You’re an angel…” Sam states.

The woman struggles to get up for a moment, but is soon standing in front of them, extending her hand. “I am Naomi, Director of ReEducation. You must be Sam and Dean.” When neither of them shake her hand, she pulls it back.

“Answer the question. What happened here?” Dean spits.

Naomi scoffs. “Your  _ pet _ happened here. He’s  _ very _ powerful. More so than is possible.”

“He’s not our p-”

“Oh  _ please _ ,” she interrupts Dean, “After everything he’s done for you? Or will do, in your case,” she leans in close, “I should have ended him the first time he walked through my door. The first time he  _ dared _ to go against his orders.”

Dean looks to Sam, hint of sadness in his eyes, “Lots of people been saying that lately…”

Naomi scoffs yet again, opening the only exit in the room. “I’ll leave you to the  _ disgrace _ of an angel that is  _ Castiel _ .” She says Cas’ name as if it leaves a sour taste in her mouth.

She walks out of the room and slams the door behind her.

 

Sam and Dean stand there in silence for a few moments. “Not a whole lotta people like Cas, huh?” Dean says dryly. “Guess not…” Sam replies.

They don’t notice the tingling sensation flood through their senses.

  
  


With a flash of light, the brothers find themselves underneath an orange sky. The sun is a strange color. It’s quiet around them, with leaves ruffling in the breeze. They’re in a graveyard.

Sam lets out a strangled whimper. Dean looks over to him, to find him looking down at their feet.

The gravestone of Mary Winchester.

 

“Please don’t go.”

It’s quiet, but the brother’s hear it. They turn to see a group of people. Some sickly guy, a man in a suit, a red headed woman, Sam, Dean, and  _ Cas _ . 

Dean barely manages to quiet a gasp when he sees himself wrapped around the angel, crying softly.

 

Sam doesn’t seem to notice that part. He’s staring at the older version of himself. His hair is a  _ lot _ longer. There’s a small hunch in his back, most likely from one too many hunting accidents. His eyes hold the weight of the world in them, probably more.

Sam is startled by the man be becomes. So young, yet so impossibly old…

 

The Winchesters watch as Dean pulls away from Cas, who reluctantly lets go. “I have to Cas…” he replies to the earlier statement. “Sam will need you,” he puts a reassuring hand on the angel’s shoulder, which Cas leans into like it’s a life line, “You’ve gotta look after him. Goodbye Cas…” And with that, the oldest Winchester disappears from sight.

 

Cas falls to the ground sobbing, weak from the physical and emotional trauma he’s been forced to endure.

Dean decides it’s time to interrupt. “Cas!” he calls.

The angel spins around, a mix of emotions on his face. This tear filled eyes lock with Dean’s.

Sam and Dean walk over to him. They help him up, Dean flinching slightly at the pain in his back from the cut he got seemingly forever ago. 

Cas looks at the ground, almost looking ashamed of the level of emotion he just displayed.

Dean pulls him into a bone crushing hug, which Cas seems startled by. “I’m so sorry for hurting you so much Cas…” he says quietly, recalling the many bad memories that involved him.

Cas sniffles a little before pulling away. “Thank you. But you must understand his Dean,” he speaks with a newfound fire in his voice,” You have  _ never _ hurt me. You have done  _ so much _ for me.” The ground begins to vibrate, but no one notices. “You gave me free will. You helped me overcome the worst things to possibly happen to me. You never gave up on me, even when everyone else did,” his eyes begin to glow a bright, blue color, “You gave me everything, Dean.”

Suddenly, flashes of memories appear before Sam and Dean, so quickly, that they barely have time to register what is being seen.

Basically, the flashes of memories in front of them are everything good that has ever happened to Castiel. And they all involve the Winchesters. The three of them, standing side by side fighting against destiny. Fighting for each other like no one else would. Fighting for what’s  _ right. _ And damn, did that make the brothers proud.

They had found family in the place they least expected it: An angel that has fallen more times then they can count.

 

The trembling ground shakes them out of the daze. They all grab for each other, huddling close. 

As soon as it started, it all stops.

  
  


Dean shoots up with a gasp. Sam follows a few seconds later.

The brothers realize that they are awake and in Dean’s bedroom.

In a flash of limbs, Dean is at Cas’ bedside. “Cas?” he calls softly.

The angel’s eyes blink open and he groans before rolling over.

Sam and Dean exchange relieved looks before laughing. They did it. They fricken saved an angel from his own mind.

Dean straightens up and realizes his back still hurts like hell. He looks to Sam, who is cradling his arm.

“Well,” Dean says, walking to the door, “Guess we gotta get patched up. There’s clothes for you on the dresser for when you’re up and moving, Cas,” he calls behind him with a triumphant smile.

  
  


Sam and Dean walk into the kitchen.

Gabriel is in the process of doodling some intricate pattern on his cast with a sharpie, tongue out in concentration. 

Bobby is sipping on a beer, reading lore, as usual.

“Do you mind getting us the first aid?” Sam asks Bobby, who seems startled by the injuries they received from being in a  _ dream _ . “Damn idjits,” he scolds, “What the hell were you thinking? Walking into an damn  _ angel’s _ head like that.”    
He tosses the first aid box at them. “For that, you can damn well patch yourselves up.”

 

After Sam stitched up Dean’s back, Dean set to work on casting Sam’s arm. He and the archangel now had matching arms. Dean would  _ never _ let him live that down.

Bobby walks in and sits down in a chair while Dean is finishing up on Sam, while the archangel still doodles off in the corner.

“So,” Bobby starts, “What kinda bad things does an angel have rolling around in it’s head? Apocalypse? Angel wars?”

Sam and Dean look at each other, eyes saddened.

“Well, uh,” Dean clears his throat, “A lot of it was, um, stuff that  _ I _ did…”

Bobby’s face scrunches up in confusion. “What do ya mean?”

Dean’s facial expression becomes uneasy. “Um… Well-”

“Dean…”

The group turns to see Cas standing there. His hair is disheveled, piercing eyes looking old and tired. He’s wearing the black ACDC shirt and grey sweatpants Dean put out for him.

“It’s not like that. The amount of bad memories you saw does in no way compare to the many good ones you alone created.”

Cas walks forward and sits on the couch with a groan.

 

“How you feelin bro?” Gabriel asks as he finishes his drawing of a dinosaur on a spaceship on a part of his cast.

Cas throws a strange look at the drawing.

“What?” Gabriel counters, “I watch Doctor Who. It’s Dinosaurs on a Spaceship!.”

Cas shakes his head. “I don’t understand that reference. And as for how I am feeling,” he looks down at his hands, “Strange. I feel strange. Father’s power is changing me and it’s causing strange things to happen…”

“Yeah. Kinda already figured that part out,” Dean snorts.

Cas’ eyes fall on Sam’s arm, then Dean’s back.

“I apologize for the Knight of Hell and all that followed. He seemed to become more powerful than the others.” Cas snaps his fingers. Sam’s cast disappears and his arm is healed, as well as Dean’s back.

“Hey! What about me!” Gabriel whines, holding up his cast.

Another snap, and Gabriel is healed as well.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Gabriel starts, “But your power is incredibly strong.”

“Yes,” Cas replies, “I even managed to break out of the restraints in reeducation…”

Gabriel’s mouth falls open at this. “H-How?! Even  _ I _ couldn’t get out of there!”

Cas looks as if he is about to ask why Gabriel was there, but Gabriel beats him to it. “ _ Please _ . Have you  _ met _ me?”

Cas smirks the tiniest bit at that and the group laughs.

For the moment, everyone was happy.

Except for the archangel watching silently, anger boiling through him.

_ ‘Why is the seraph Castiel interacting with the Winchesters,’ _ Raphael asks himself,  _ ‘His orders were for him to stay away until further notice…’ _ With this, the archangel storms off to prepare himself to confront the rebel angel.


	8. Raphael's Office Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raphael gets a shocking surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to squeeze in a short chapter after all the tests I've had this week for school.
> 
> I have a cross country meet tomorrow, but I might be able to write another short one :)

 

Raphael has popped in on the Winchesters a few times during their lives. It was always either to watch them, heal them, or bring them back from the dead. Because  _ really _ . Why would you think reckless teenage hunters like the Winchester brothers would do anything except constantly  _ die _ . Their minds were always wiped of the fact that they had passed on, but it didn’t annoy Raphael any less.

 

Raphael recalled telling the seraph, Castiel, to bring Dean Winchester back from hell and then to stay away from him until further notice.

Without Castiel watching over the Winchesters, Raphael felt it was his responsibility to do so until the job was passed back to him.

 

He appears by the treeline of Singer Salvage. The lights are on in the living room and shadows walk past the curtained window.

It’s night and Raphael is most certain that he will not be seen. So he walks towards the house and crouches behind a truck that is so worn out, that you can’t even tell what make or model it is.

 

Using his archangel hearing, Raphael listens closely to the voices inside.

“That’s the damn near  _ dumbest  _ thing I’ve ever seen.” He recognized that voice to be of Bobby Singer.

“What? Come  _ on _ . It’s a  _ dinosaur _ on a  _ spaceship!  _ It’s the coolest thing ever!” Raphael’s face scrunches up in confusion. He doesn’t recognize that voice, and Bobby doesn’t just let any old person into his home. He makes a mental note to ask Castiel to look more into the mysterious man.

It’s quiet for a few minutes longer. Muffled voices come from upstairs, but no matter how hard he tries, Raphael can’t seem to hear them. Something is blocking him…

Two pairs of tired footsteps come down the stairs. 

“Do you mind getting the first aid?”  _ Sam _ . He cringes. Lucifer’s vessel is the scum of the earth, but is necessary to achieve peace.

“Damn idjits. What the hell were you thinking? Walking into a damn  _ angel’s _ head like that?. For that, you can patch yourselves up.” An angel’s head? What did he mean? That is yet another thing to ask Castiel to investigate.

 

There’s a few minutes of quiet with short hisses of pain from the two brothers, probably from the ‘patching up’ they referenced to.

 

Bobby shuffles loudly into the living room. “So. What kinda bad things does an angel have rolling around inside it’s head? Apocalypse? Angel wars?” Raphael glares at the house for Bobby even thinking about the apocalypse. 

There’s a time of what the mud monkeys call ‘awkward silence’ before Dean speaks, voice slightly rattled.

“Well, uh. A lot of it was, um, stuff that  _ I _ did…” Well if Raphael wasn’t interested before, he definitely is now. Dean Winchester did things unknown to heaven in something referred to as an angel’s head.

“What do ya mean?” Raphael leans in close, also wanting to hear about these actions.

“Um… Well-” “Dean…” 

Raphael jumps backward. ‘No!’ he thinks angrily, ‘Castiel has disobeyed a direct order. Interacting with the Winchesters is strictly forbidden to any angel besides himself at this time. Raphael’s vessel’s face heats up with fury.

“It’s not like that,” Castiel continues, “The amount of bad memories you saw does in no way compare to the many good ones you alone created.”

‘Castiel has been with the Winchesters for so long as to create many memories? How long has this been going on?’ Raphael silently scolds.

“How you feelin bro?” the mysterious voices asks again. ‘Bro?’ Raphael is angry and confused.  _ Not _ a good combination.

“What?” the voice counters, “I watch Doctor Who. It’s Dinosaurs on a Spaceship!”

“I don’t understand that reference. And as for how I am feeling… Strange. I feel strange. Father’s power is changing me and it’s causing strange things to happen…”

Raphael’s mouth falls open. Castiel has seen their father? When?

“Yeah. Kinda already figured that part out.”

“I apologize for the Knight of Hell and all that followed. He seemed to become more powerful than the others.” A snapping sound is heard. ‘Knight of Hell? Where? They’ve all been killed...’

“Hey! What about me!” The snapping sound repeats. ‘What right does Castiel have to even  _ think _ of healing an unimportant little human?’

“I don’t know what’s going on, but your power is incredibly strong.” ‘Power? What power? Castiel is but a measly seraph. Nothing of import to heaven besides the watcher of the righteous man, but even then, he can be replaced.’

“Yes. I even managed to break out of the restraints in reeducation…” ‘Castiel has broken out of reeducation? That is impossible!’ Raphael’s thoughts are cut short.

“H-How?! Even  _ I _ couldn’t get out of there!” Raphael freezes. Apparently this mysterious person, or maybe angel, has been to heaven’s reeducation. There is certainly to be a record of it, which one of Raphael’s lackeys will check.

“ _ Please _ . Have you  _ met _ me?” The living room is filled with laughter.

Raphael’s anger is boiling inside of him now. The seraph Castiel has disobeyed direct orders from an archangel and has told the Winchesters unnecessary information.

Raphael storms off into heaven to prepare to confront Castiel.

  
  


Raphael appears in his office face to face with Castiel. He jumps back for a moment, taken aback with the question of how a seraph was faster than an archangel.

Recovering from his shock, Raphael’s eyes and wings flare with light.

“How  _ dare _ you defy a direct order from  _ me! _

Castiel’s eyes fill with confusion, and then pure and utter terror. He backs away from Raphael and into a wall. 

He tries to fly away, but the archangel pins him there, sword falling into his hand.

“For your choices, you punishment is death.” Raphael raises his sword to strike the petrified angel below him. But suddenly, the seraph disappears. 

The light on Raphael’s eyes and wings fade, sword disappearing. He looks around his office, searching for the angel, who is nowhere to be seen.

Furiously, he calls in Castiel’s garrison to search for him and bring him back to the archangel to be dealt with. Once this is done, Raphael sits down in his chair to try and figure out what had just happened.

  
  


“What the  _ fuck?!” _ Dean yells as Castiel falls on top of him. Castiel scrambles off of him and runs to the corner, breathing heavily. 

Cas walks over to comfort himself by putting a hand on his shoulder. When Castiel realizes Raphael is nowhere to be seen, he begins to compose himself. He ‘straightens’ his tie, unwrinkles his trench coat, and wipes his hands on his pants with a huff.

“How did I get here?” he asks.

“I sensed you were in trouble. I brought you here,” Cas replies.

“Right on top of me?!  _ Really? _ ” 

Cas looks at his hands, clenching them into fists. “It seems my aim is slightly off still…” He turns back to Castiel. He cocks his head, seemingly reading Castiel’s mind. Castiel repeats the gesture.

“This is getting creepy…” Bobby announces, taking another sip of his beer.

The two angels stare at each other in silence for a moment longer. “Raphael…” Cas breathes, “I had forgotten he was alive here…” Cas turns to the group. “Knowing Raphael, he has most likely sent my garrison to search for me. I shall go to heaven and confront him myself.” He snaps his fingers, returning to his usual clothing.Cas is about to fly off when Dean grabs his coat sleeve. “Cas no. He might kill you!”

Cas sighs. “I’m not so sure he can.” And with a ruffle of feathers, he’s gone.

  
  
  


Cas’ plan wasn’t to go straight to heaven. So after the Winchesters, he flies to a large, open field in the middle of nowhere. 

Bringing in a rogue angel is greatly rewarded in heaven. Because of this, Cas wants this reward to go to an angel from his garrison that was unrightfully killed by him. Samandriel, the youngest of the garrison. If he were to bring in Cas, he would be praised by heaven greatly.

 

Cas breathes in the fresh air of the field. It’s coated beautifully by moonlight, wind lightly ruffling the tall grasses.

“Samandriel,” he calls, “I am here.”

A few seconds pass and the ruffling of wings is heard. “Hello Castiel.”

Cas turns to see Samandriel in the same vessel he had in the future. He looks nervous standing there alone, angel blade clutched tightly in his hands. 

“I would like for you to take me to see Raphael,” Cas says, holding out his wrists for shackles to be placed on them.

Samandriel makes a look of confusion. “Why do you want me to take you in while shackled in chains, rather than flying there yourself?”

Cas makes a soft, barely there smile, “Because you will be rewarded for bringing me in.” Cas gets down on his knees, wrists still held high. He figures that kneeling will allow Samandriel to be more comfortable around him.

“Why?” Samandriel asks, lowering his blade.

Cas looks up, meeting wary green eyes with his soft blue ones. “Because you deserve better,” was all he said.

The other angel nods, small smile on his face, while he steps forward and put the enochian chains on Cas’ wrists. A small thank you is whispered in Cas’ ear before they fly off to heaven.

  
  


Samandriel timidly knocks on the archangel’s door. 

“ _ What?! _ ” Raphael’s frustrated voice booms through the door.

It takes a moment, but Samandriel finds his voice. It’s not everyday you meet with an archangel.

“I-I’ve got him, sir. I’ve got Castiel.”

The door clicks and slowly opens. Raphael is sitting at his desk, slightly confused, but mostly angry, look on his face. “Thank you Samandriel. Heaven shall reward you for your hard work.”

The angel nods gratefully and nudges Cas inside, closing the door when he leaves.

 

Cas stares at Raphael, unphased, who is currently glaring at him. It’s been eerily silent for a few minutes, neither of them willing to speak.

Raphael finally stands up. “Now tell me this Castiel. How did you manage to escape  _ my  _ powers, but were caught by the  _ weakest _ angel in your garrison? Hm?” He leans in close to Cas’ face. Cas shows no emotion and continues to stare ahead.

Raphael scowls at him before stepping back, pacing around his office slowly.

 

“Now,” he starts, “What have you been doing with the Winchesters, Castiel?”

Cas continues to stare ahead, giving no response.

Raphael punches the door behind Cas’ shoulder in fury, face so close that his breath condensing on Cas’ face. “You  _ will _ tell me Castiel. Or I will  _ make _ the Winchesters tell me.”

Cas’ eyes suddenly flare to life with grace and he glares at the archangel. The shackles around his wrists turn to dust. The shadows of his wings, now 10 times their original size, are displayed on the white walls of the office.

Raphael is thrown back against the wall by the sudden burst of power, his face filled with surprise. 

“H-How?...”

Eyes still ablaze, Cas stretches his arm towards Raphael and squeezes his fist. Raphael’s eyes go wide when he starts to glow, his grace slowly being torn out of him. He begins coughing, blood coming out of his mouth and nose.

“...s-stop...” he whimpers, grace painfully burning out, bit by bit.

Cas releases his fist, arm dropping to his side. His wings disappear and his eyes return to normal. 

Raphael struggles to catch his breath, hands on his throat as he gasps for air. His terrified eyes meet Cas’ righteous, yet calm ones. 

“If you threaten the Winchesters again,” he turns and opens the door, but looks back over his shoulder, “I will not hesitate to end you Raphael.” Cas turns and leaves the office of the archangel, whose eyes are still filled with terror-stricken shock.


	9. Happy Family Meal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean gets frustrated, Castiel can't decide on anything, and Cas just really wants a burger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to get this short chapter out. School has been tough this week! Hope you like it :)

Dean glances at Sam on his right, who nods back at him. He glances at Bobby on his left, who also nods. Dean turns and stares at Gabriel in the dim light, who is squinting at him with unfaltering focus. Dean reaches out and lays his cards on the table, a confident smirk on his face as he lounges back into his chair.

Gabriel sniggers not-so-quietly and throws his cards down. He jumps out of his chair and leans over the table, right up to Dean’s face. “Straight flush, Deano!” he laughs victoriously, mock-crowd cheering with his fists in the air. 

“Balls…” Bobby mumbles, sitting down harshly. Sam shakes his head, trying not to laugh, as Dean shoots out of his chair. “No fair! You’re a fricken  _ angel _ . You totally cheated!”

Gabriel smirks as he pulls the chips Dean bet, which were all of them, towards himself. With a snap of his fingers, the chips turn into a large pile of assorted candies. He unwraps a piece of chocolate and pops it in his mouth. Looking up, Gabriel stops mid-chew to see Dean staring at him, slack-jawed.  _ “What?” _ Gabriel somehow manages to ask through his mouthful of chocolate.

“I give up,” Dean huffs as he stomps over to the couch and plops down.

Sam busts out laughing, unable to keep his laughter silence any longer. Dean glares at him and Gabriel laughs along with Sam, putting another piece of sugary candy into his mouth. Bobby just sighs and mutters something about how he’s ‘getting too old for this shit’.

 

A quiet knock on the door makes everyone’s heads turn to the door, all suddenly silent. 

Sam gets up, gun loaded, and puts it against the door. He slowly opens it, only to take the gun down and open it further.

Cas steps in with a small ‘Hello Sam’ and walks into the living room.

“Hello Dean.” “Hey, Cas.” Cas walks over and sits on the couch, a comfortable, but still close, distance from Dean.

“I take it you didn’t see Raphie, since you’re still alive and kicking?” Gabriel asks, mouth full of  _ more  _ candy.

Cas lets out a small barely-there laugh. “I saw Raphael. I am guessing we will not be hearing from him for some time. He threatened to harm the Winchesters, so I ripped his grace to shreds.”

Gabriel gawks at him. Cas just said that he ripped up an  _ archangel’s _ grace as if it were something casual to do.

Before Gabriel can say anything, Cas says, “Where is Castiel?”

The group trades unknowing glances before all eyes rest on Bobby, who is wide eyed.

“Shit,” Bobby says, “I forgot I sent him to the store.”   
“When?” Sam asks.

“Umm. I think like an hour ago or somethin. Sent him for some food.”

Cas rubs his hand down his face and sighs. “Did you tell him what to get  _ specifically _ ?” Bobby shakes his head, “No. Why?”

Cas stands up, promptly preparing himself to leave. “At this point in time, I had not been on earth in many millenia. I was not familiar with human, well, everything. If I wasn’t told specific things, I could not decide what to do. I have been on earth for 8 years and yet I still have these problems. I will fetch him.” With that, he vanishes.

  
  


“Sir, you’ve been in here for over an hour. Please buy something, or exit the store,” an irritated employee tells Castiel, who is currently holding two different kinds of beef jerky in his hands. One sriracha flavored and one peppered flavored. 

“I do not understand the need for so many flavors. Humans can be sustained with the simplest of tastes,” Castiel tell the employee. 

“Castiel. It is good to see you,” Cas attempts to say casually, as he walks up to the confused angel. The employee eyes Cas, perplexed by the two, seemingly identical twins, in the store. He gives up and walks off. 

“I don't understand. I saw you 2 hours ago. You say this as if you have not seen me in a long time, yet it has been a short amount of time.”

Cas sighs. “I am trying to be what humans call “casual”. I am still having trouble though.”

Castiel nods and turns back to the beef jerky packets, face growing puzzled. “I know the Winchesters like whatever beef jerky is, but I cannot decide what flavor. There are so many combinations. What if they do not like the one I chose?” Castiel looks up and gives Cas worried puppy dog eyes. 

Cas chuckles to himself, remembering that this is what he used to act like. “I've got it,” he says. 

He grabs the sriracha, teriyaki, and bacon flavored beef jerky. “Dean prefers these. Sam only eats salad. I have never seen Bobby eat, only drink.”

Cas hands the jerky to Castiel and goes to the refrigerated section. He grabs a chef salad for Sam, a cheap bottle of whiskey for Bobby, and two cases of beer. 

Castiel follows closely behind, watching every move like his life depends on it. 

The two of them go to the register to pay. Cas takes out his fake credit card with the name Clarence Novak. 

“You guys twins or something?” The employee asks as he rings up their items. 

“No. We are simply the same-” “Yes,” Cas interrupts, “Identical twins.” The employee nods, still a bit confused, in response. 

 

The two angels return to the house shortly after. They stopped at a burger joint for a few seconds to steal some dinner for the group. They stole it because Cas was not really in the mood to talk to strangers with Castiel around. He is starting to know why Dean was always frustrated with him in the beginning. 

Cas appears on the couch, already starting on his burger, while Castiel zaps the groceries onto the kitchen table. 

“Ooo! Now that's what I'm talking about!” Dean yells enthusiastically. He jumps off the couch to the table, grabbing the teriyaki jerky and a burger with extra bacon and onions. Just how he likes it. 

“Took long enough…” Bobby mutters as he grabs a burger and a bottle of beer. 

“I got you a salad, Sam,” Cas mumbles through bites of his burger. Sam gives a thankful smile and grabs it out of the bag. 

Gabriel poofs himself up a chocolate milkshake with whip cream piled high, smiling happily as he sips through his curly straw. 

The whole group is eating happily. Well, all except for Castiel, who is sitting awkwardly straight on the chair. Cas holds out a burger. “Try some. If you dim your grace enough, it doesn't taste like molecules. It took me a while, but it was worth it.”

Castiel takes the juicy burger tentatively in his hands, eyeing it strangely. He sniffs it, eyes going wide as his mouth waters. Closing his eyes, he slowly lifts the burger to his mouth, focusing on the bite. He chews for a moment, everything tasting like molecules, when suddenly, a burst of intense flavor pops through. A low moan escapes him as he chews happily. “This makes me very happy.”

Cas laughs. “That's what I said the first time around too.”

The group laughs and they continue their peacefully happy meal together as a family. 


	10. The Long Lost, Yet Not Too Lost, Relative

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me so long to post! I had some extreme writers block with this chapter. I hope you like it :)

 

Zachariah runs many of the operations in heaven. He gives missions to garrisons, schedules meetings, and occasionally watches the Winchesters.

Every week, Raphael checks in with him for new missions and such. He trusts Zachariah with confidential information like that. That meeting was supposed to be three days ago. Granted, Zachariah knows how busy Raphael can be, but he has never been more than a day late.

 

Despite the possibility of Raphael smiting him for entering his office uninvited, Zachariah decides that is what he must do. He needs information for scheduling and missions.

Tentatively, he walks the bright white hallway to Raphael’s office door. Taking a deep breath, he knocks. After a few seconds of no response, Zachariah grabs the door handle, turning it quietly.

The door opens to reveal Raphael’s office and Zachariah gasps. What is usually a pristine office, is now incredibly messy. The white colors of the walls have faded into a dull gray. Papers and furniture are strewn about. Spotting some red liquid on the ground, Zachariah walks over to it and dips his fingers in it. He brings his fingers to his nose, giving a small sniff.  _ Blood _ .

 

A quiet groan behind Zachariah sets off alarm bells. He spins around, angel blade drawn, and looking for the source of the noise.

He drops the blade and stares, shocked, at Raphael’s foot peeking out from behind the desk. Rushing over, Zachariah stops dead when he fully sees the archangel.

The most powerful angel in heaven is laying on the ground, broken and bloody. Raphael’s grace is weak, so that’s why Zachariah didn’t sense him earlier.

 

He bends down to help his broken leader up. Raphael eases into his office chair with a groan. 

“What happened here, sir?” Zachariah questions.

Raphael sighs, breath slightly shaky. “How long ago did I order the hunt for Castiel?” he asks.

“About 4 days ago, sir,” the angel replies.

Raphael rubs his hands over his face, murmuring something about being unconscious for the past 3 days. 

Zachariah just sits there silently, watching his leader think. He doesn’t know what to do, so he waits.

 

A few minutes later, Raphael leans back in his chair with a moan. He looks at Zachariah, who is staring back at him. Zachariah watches as the cuts and bruises on Raphael’s face  _ very slowly _ begin to fade. 

“It was Castiel,” the archangel finally says.

Zachariah blinks for a few moments. “...what?”

“The seraph Castiel. He did this. Although, I’m not so sure he  _ is _ a seraph anymore…”

Zachariah steps closer. “What do you mean? How could he do this?”

“I don’t know!” Raphael snaps, “Castiel came into my office, bound and spelled with enochian. I threatened the Winchesters and he suddenly…  _ exploded _ with power. The spells and shackles broke,” he points to the faint pile of dust on the floor of what used to be the shackles, “He almost tore out my grace, Zachariah. He’s no seraph. Not anymore,” he stands up slowly and begins staggering to the door, “Find out what happened to him. I need that power.”

Raphael exits the office, leaving a stunned and disbelieving Zachariah behind.

 

xx

 

It’s been 4 days since Cas visited Raphael.  _ 4 days. _ And they still haven’t come up with a plan.

“What if we trap him with those enochian spelled chain thingies,” Bobby asks in between sips of his beer.

“There’s no guarantee that they’ll work on Raphael unless their taken directly from heaven. And we’re not exactly allowed there at the moment. Heaven is probably on high alert right now,” Gabriel sighs, visibly annoyed with their lack of plans.

Just then, Cas joins the group of 5 in the living room. “I finally finished the wards. Ten square miles around this house are now angel proof, except for me, Castiel, and Gabriel of course.”   
“Thanks Cas,” Sam smiles.

“Have you made any progress with plans?” Cas asks the group. 

Castiel answers. “No. It is proving to be quite difficult to formulate one.”

Dean suddenly stands up. “I'm going for a drive.” He walks to the door, opening it and hovering next to it. He looks back over his shoulder. “You coming Cas?” 

Cas gives him a grateful nod and follows him out the door. 

 

xx

 

Cas stares at the passenger door of the impala for what seems like forever. Slowly, he reaches out, tugging at the cool metal door handle. The familiar squeak of the door’s hinges tugs at Cas’ heart. 

Slowly, Cas slides into the passenger seat. He runs his fingers along the familiar, worn leather. 

Forgetting Dean was is the car, he is startled out of his daze when the engine sparks to life. His eyes meet the worried ones of Dean.

“You okay?” Dean asks, visibly concerned.

Cas nods, blinking a few times before returning his gaze to the front window.

 

The two of them drive in silence for the next few hours. Speeding aimlessly down the abandoned highways of the Dakotas.

Cas is getting lost in the steady rumble of the impala’s engine when Dean finally talks.

“How long has it been?”

Cas looks over at him, but Dean stares at the road ahead, refusing to make eye contact. “Since…?”

“Since the other me… ya know...”

“Oh.”

Cas looks out the window, eyes shutting tightly to keep stray tears from forming.

After what seems like an eternity, he answers. “Six days.”

Dean breathes out audibly. “Shit, Cas… I didn’t know it was so recent…”

They drive in silence for a little while longer.

“Cas…” Dean starts and Cas looks at him, “Shit… I’m not good at this stuff…” he sighs, “Well… Gabriel told me something. About your memories. When you were gone, with Raphael, he said… He said you’re depressed, Cas…”

Cas closes his eyes and turns back to the window, hiding his face from Dean.

“Cas listen to me. I may not be  _ him _ , but I also still kinda am. You can talk to me, if ya want…”

Cas turns his body to face Dean, his knee now resting on the seat beside him. “How could I do that, Dean? How could I talk to you about… About him? He knew me better than I know myself. We had an understanding. We had-” Cas stops, tears threatening to spill over. He bites his lip, drawing blood, to distract his mind from his past memories. His past  _ feelings _ .

“You had what?” 

Cas opens his glossy blue eyes. He brings them up to meet Dean’s face. Cas notes the little imperfections that aren’t there yet. The little scar above his right eye from the time Dean tried to sword fight with Cas in the bunker. The scar across Dean’s left cheek from the time he and Charlie took LARPing a little too seriously. The hard lines of too many hunts in his face. The old, tired eyes filled with love and compassion that always knew what Cas was thinking the moment he walked into the room. None of it is there yet. 

Cas sighs, remembering the good times with a faint smile. His gaze returns to Dean’s eyes. “We had love.” With a faint ruffle of feathers, Cas disappears from the impala, leaving a stunned and heartbroken Dean behind.

 

xx

 

“They’ve been gone for hours!” Sam says as he paces around the house furiously. “What if Raphael got them? What if they’re  _ dead _ ?” 

“Don’t worry that, Sam. I told Dean to talk to Cas, so it makes sense why they aren’t back yet,” Gabriel puts a reassuring hand on Sam’s shoulder, who huffs and reluctantly sits down on the couch.

“Talk about what?” Bobby asks, looking up from his attempt at a poker game with Castiel in the kitchen, who is actually winning.

Gabriel exhales loudly, rubbing his face with his hands. “Okay… Okay, everyone sit down.”

The group gathers together in the living room.

“Remember that whole thing about how Cassie ran off because he was upset Dean called him Cas and that was the last thing his Dean ever said to him? Well… From what I gather from Cas’ memories… He and Dean were kinda in this like, unspoken relationship.”

“You mean, they loved each other and knew it, but didn’t say it?” Sam asks to clarify.

“Exactly like that. Sam, I know you know what it’s like to lose someone you love. How long did it take you to get over Jess’ death?”

Sam fidgets with his coat sleeve. “Um… I still haven’t really gotten over it yet, but, I mean, I started to function formally after about... two and a half years.”   
“And did her death make you depressed?”

Sam nods.

“Why the hell are you asking all these shrink questions? What’s this got to do with Dean and Cas?” Bobby interrupts.

Gabriel glares at him, non-threateningly. “I’m getting to that,” he turns back to Sam, “Now, without Dean’s help, what would have happened?”

“I guess I would have fallen off the rails. A lotta bad stuff would have happened…”

“Cassie hasn’t had anybody to talk to. No one that really understands what he’s thinking or knows what he went through. Cas’ Dean died six days ago. And he’s had no one.”

The room goes silent, no one daring to breathe. 

“Poor Cas…” Sam says, putting his head in his hands. 

“I-I do not wish to experience pain so profound…” Castiel says quietly, a slight quiver in his voice. 

“I hope to God everything’s going okay with those boys,” Bobby mumbles. 

 

xx

 

Cas doesn't want to feel right now. He  _ can't.  _ He can't bare it any longer. So he does what he came here to go. Make things right for Dean. 

 

First things first, the bunker. The safest place for the Winchesters right now. 

 

Cas went to an abandoned hotel just outside of Sioux Falls. Chanting an old enochian spell, Cas channels the power of Henry Winchester’s blood spell into the door he is currently standing in front of. 

The door begins to rattle with Cas’ outstretched hand, glowing a faint red color. 

Suddenly, a man falls out of the door, dressed in a 1950s suit. 

Henry Winchester. 

He sits there for a moment, dazed about his sudden time travel, when he stands up. “I am looking for John Winchester.”

“I know,” Cas replies, “I will take you to his sons as soon as Abbadon follows you through.”

Henry’s eyes go wide. A million questions flood through his mind.  _ How does this man know I am looking for my son? How does he know about Abaddon? Where is John? John has sons? How far in the future am I?  _ Realization suddenly dawns on his face, followed by a look of terror. “I must seal the door behind me! I cannot let Abbadon escape!”

Cas extends his arm and Henry freezes instantly, unable to move. “I cannot let you do that Henry.”

“How do you know my name?!” Henry yells as he tries to get to the door, but it's too late. 

The door begin to glow red once again. 

Not a moment later, a red headed woman with a white dress, covered in blood, falls out. 

She locks her eyes on the little box frozen in Henry’s unmoving hand. She smiles devilishly, getting up and reaching for it. 

She, too, suddenly finds herself unable to move. It is only then, does she notice the trench coated man extending his hands towards them. 

“Angel,” she hisses, eyes flickering to black.

“Abaddon,” the angel steps forward, “You have caused my friends great pain in the future. And now, you must die.”

“She cannot be killed! You must run before it's too late!” Henry yells. 

“Henry’s right, angel. Not even  _ you _ can kill me.”

Cas places his palm on her forehead in confident determination. “I can do anything,” he whispers. 

His grace pounds into the Knight of Hell. She begins to scream as her eyes burn out and her demonic soul turns to ash. Her lifeless body falls to the floor with a tux once Cas removes his hand. 

 

Cas turns to Henry, who is now unfrozen and shaking in fear. 

“H-How did you do that? She was no ordinary demon. She was unkillable. And she said you… you are an angel? How? There's no such thing.”

“Henry Winchester. Abbadon was correct. I am an angel. And I am from the future and I am here to save your grandsons,” Cas hold out his hand, “Come with me.” 

Against his better judgement, Henry takes Cas’ hand to be whisked away to Singer Salvage yard. 

 

xx

 

Dean pulls into Bobby’s driveway feeling… well, there's no way to describe it other than emotionally torn and confused. 

He turns off the engine and sits in the impala for a few minutes, collecting his thoughts. Cas told him that he  _ loved _ him. Dean never thought anyone would love him the way Cas apparently does, or will, or did, or whatever. Dean doesn't know whether he should be having a gay crisis or if he should be happy for that love, even if it's not for the him of now. 

He is so lost in his thoughts that he barely notices when Sam taps on the driver door window. Sam gives him a small nods and walks back up to the house, signaling Dean to follow. 

A few moments later, he does. 

 

Dean enters the house to see all eyes on him. They all seem to be silently asking him where Cas is. 

“Cas-uh. He went out. For a bit.”

“Uh huh. I thought that's what you two were doing  _ together _ ,” Bobby counters, “Did you do something stupid and scare him off?”

“No! Bobby, no. He dropped something big on me and then disappeared.”

“How long ago was this?” Gabriel asks. 

“About an hour ago, I think.”

Gabriel nods his head and sits back down at the table with Castiel, continuing their plan on what to do next, which was still nothing. 

 

About half an hour later, a knock is heard at the door. Bobby answers. “You don't have to knock, ya idjit. Who's your friend?”

Bobby walks into the living room followed by Cas and a man that looks like a 1950s clothing ad threw up all over. 

“I apologize for leaving you Dean. There were… things I had to do. Also,” he turns to the group, “I apologize in advance for the confusion. This is Henry Winchester,” he motions to the man standing beside him, “Your grandfather. He was a Man of Letters. Sam and Dean, you became Men of Letters in the future after your grandfather time traveled to you. He brought along a Knight of Hell, but I just destroyed it so it will not cause future chaos.”

“What?” Sam and Dean both ask in unison. 

“This is your father’s father, Henry. He time traveled to my future from his past, bringing the knowledge of the Men of Letters. I simply sped up his arrival and the arrival of the Knight of Hell. Now you will use this key,” Cas holds up a strange little box, “And you will live in the bunker, safe from the Apocalypse.”

“This is the guy that ditched dad?” Dean accuses. 

Henry pales and Cas begins explaining. “Henry did not abandon your father. He was simply trapped in the future, unable to get back.”

“Can't you bring him back  _ now _ ?” Asks Sam. 

Cas looks down at his worn shoes. “Sadly, I cannot. His soul was destined to exist back in his time, and this time. Not in between those two times. If I try to return him to a year he was never meant to exist, there is a risk of tearing a hole in the fabric of reality.”

Henry sits down on the chair, taking in all the information with a heavy heart. 

“And the… Knight of Hell… What did it do? In the future?,” Dean asks hesitantly. 

Cas sighs and sits in the last empty chair. “In my time, I was not powerful enough to kill her. The Knights of Hell were created by Cain, himself. They were indestructible. They could only be killed by the First Blade paired with the Mark of Cain. All of the Knights of Hell were killed, except one called Abbadon. She chased after your grandfather to get this key. It unlocks what you called, the “supernatural motherload of information”, which is known to you as the bunker. Cain refused to kill her, so he gave you the Mark and the Blade. You killed her after that. But then the Mark made your mind go into dark, dark places, Dean. It controlled your very being. It was impossible to remove without devastating consequences. Soon after that, you were killed by the angel, Metatron. Who, by the way, remind me to kill later. Anyway, after you were killed, the Mark would not let you go. So it turned you into the demon you saw in my memories. You were eventually restored into a human, but still had the Mark. You tried to live with it, Dean. You tried so hard. But you became so tired. So very tired. Soon, you gave up. You visited Death and told him to take you away. To keep you from your darkness. But Sam, oh, Sam. He saved you, Dean. He removed the Mark, but it also released the darkness. That was the devastating consequence I was talking about…” 

The room was deathly silent. 

“I’ve-uh,” Dean interrupts and stands up quickly, knocking a glass of whiskey off the table and onto the floor, shattering it, “I-I have to go. J-Just. Go.” Dean rushes upstairs and locks himself in his room. For the first time in a long time, Dean cries. He is so overwhelmed with the information about his past-future or whatever, that he can't help but cry. 

He lays on his stomach with his head in his pillow for a long time. A small knock sounds on the door. 

“What?” Dean mutters into his pillow. 

“Can I come in, Dean?” It's Cas. Of course. 

“Whatever…”

Cas opens the door and closes it behind him. Dean listens to the sound of the angel shuffling over to him. The bed dips with Cas’ extra weight. 

“I'm sorry Dean. I'm so sorry.”

Dean turns over and sits up, holding the pillow close to his chest. “S’okay…” He sniffles. He hates people seeing him like this, all puffy faced and teary eyed. But he feels like Cas has seen this so many times before, that he just doesn't care anymore. 

“Will-uh… Will any of that still happen?” Dean asks quietly. 

Dean lets Cas pull him into a tight hug, “Not while I'm around…” 

 

xx

 

After embracing each other for a while, Cas and Dean decide to go back downstairs. 

They round the stairs to see poor Henry getting grilled by Sam and Bobby for information. The man looks as if he's about to pass out. 

“Henry, perhaps a you should rest,” Cas says. Henry nods. 

“I'll get his stuff ready,” Gabriel says, “You've been through a lot recently. You need a break starting right now.”

Henry follows Gabriel upstairs to the spare bedroom to get ready for the long night ahead. 

 

Dean sits down next to Sam, who is holding the key to the bunker in his hands. 

“This is home for us, Dean. You saw those pictures…” Sam says with a soft smile. Dean returns it and playfully ruffles Sam’s hair. “Hey! Watch it, jerk!” “Bitch,” Dean laughs back. 

When the boys look up, Cas and Castiel are sitting next to each other. They both look identical. Sam and Dean look from one angel to the other, and back again. 

“Which ones which?” Dean asks. 

The two angels turn to looks at each other at the same time, blue eyes scanning over each other's forms. They turn back to the brothers at the same time. 

“Creepy…” Sam mutters. “Definitely,” Dean responds. 

“I am Cas,” Cas says, “I have this scar,” he points to a white line from his temple to his eyebrow, “I obtained it when I became human. I also have this…” He stands up, slipping off his trench coat. He begins unbuttoning his shirt. 

“Uh… Cas?...” Dean asks, mildly intrigued. 

Cas finishes the last button and holds his shirt open. The group gasps when they see a large sigil scarred into Cas’ torso. 

“How did I not see that before…” Dean says to himself. 

“This was done with an angel blade. An angel blade is the only thing that can truly hurt an angel.”

“Who did that to you?” Sam questions. 

Cas sighs and begins to button his shirt back up. Dean internally whines. 

“I did it to myself. It's a long story involving my mistake with the Leviathans…”

“Leva-whats? You know what, no. I don't want to know,” Bobby says. 

 

“So. This bunker… Where is it?” Sam asks, examining the key. 

“Close to your Lawrence, actually. Lebanon, Kansas,” Cas answers. 

“How did anything  _ not _ get in there? I mean, things that go bump in the night don't usually use a key,” Dean says. 

“It is heavily warded, which I will add onto once we get there. I think tomorrow morning would be best.”

Just then, Bobby walks in with a duffel bag. “Picked up a hunt not too far from here. Gonna head out now. I'll meet up with you guys in a few days.”

“You sure you're fine on your own?” Dean asks. 

“I managed just fine without you idjits before. I'm fine,” Bobby counters. 

Dean holds his hands up in surrender as Bobby walks to the door. “Alright! Okay. Just call us if you need anything.”

Bobby nods, grabs his keys, and heads out to his car. 

Everyone listens as the rumble of Bobby’s truck fades in the distance. 

 

“We head out tomorrow,” Cas announces. 

The group nods in response. “Tomorrow…” Sam says quietly, trying to hide the excitement in his voice. 


	11. "Are we there yet?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's just say Sam is never riding in a car with Gabriel ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter that will be the transition to the newest situation :) hope you like it!!

Dean tosses the last of the bags into the impala’s trunk and slams it shut, turning to wipe the dust off his hands on his pants. He nods a look of  _ good to go _ at Sam, who is driving with Gabriel and Henry in one of the only cars that works on Bobby’s lot. 

“Are you sure you don't want me to just poof us there?” Gabriel calls through the rolled down passenger window.

“Yeah. I'm not big on flying. Driving is more my style,” Dean says with a shake of his head. Dean gets into the car, makes sure both Castiels are there, and pulls down the driveway. Sam follows behind. 

 

Dean glances over at the angel on the passenger seat, trying to determine which one he is. He is peacefully looking out the window at the rolling fields. He then looks in the rear view mirror at the other angel, who is also watching the fields. Dean scans the angel’s face.  _ No scar. Castiel.  _ He looks back at the one next to him, who is now watching the wide open road ahead. There is a mark above his right eyebrow.  _ Scar. Cas _ . 

“So, Cas,” Dean starts, “Tell me more about the bunker.”

Cas turns to face Dean. “What would you like me to tell you?”

Dean scratches the back of his neck in thought. “I dunno. I saw a little bit of it in that freaky ass dream, but what's it like? What's there? Anything interesting?”

The ghost of a smile passes over Cas’ face. “You will just have to wait and see.”

Dean grumbles, a little annoyed that he has to wait  _ two whole days  _ to see the bunker. 

 

Besides Dean’s cassette tapes, the drive was silent. Cas and Castiel didn't seem to mind, but Dean has so many questions. He doesn’t know where to start, but there  _ is _ something that has been bothering him, something scratching at his mind for days. It’s small and probably insignificant, but he just can’t get it out of his head.

“Cas?” Dean asks quietly.

“Yes Dean?” the angel replies. Dean almost laughs at how innocent Cas looks right now, but he doesn’t.

“When I, uh. When I was in your mind with Sam, one of the places we showed up was this library place with all these hallways. Was that the bunker?” “Yes. You must have been in the library where… well. What happened there isn’t important. But yes.That was part of the bunker. Why?” Cas tilts his head curiously, in a very bird-like manner. “Well,” Dean starts, “When Sam got rid of the memory-me, we didn’t disappear right away, so we went looking for you. I eventually found what I  _ assume _ is my room-” “First hallway on your left from the library, second right, and four doors down?” Cas asks, as if it were a completely normal question. “Uh…” Dean thinks for a moment, “Yeah, I think so.” “Yes, that room belongs to you.” “Okay… Well, Sammy and I, we went in there and found some pictures. There were some people I didn’t recognize. Who was the redhead I was dressed up with? And why the hell was I in a costume in the first place?”

Cas’ expression turns from curious to heartbroken in a matter of seconds. He looks away from Dean, sighing loudly. “Her name was Charlie. You called her ‘the little sister you never wanted’,” a small smile brushes across Cas’ face as he continues to stare at the road, “You were dressed up in that picture because you were LARPing with her.” “LARPing?” “Live Action Role Playing. Charlie was the Queen of Moondoor and you were her handmaiden. You never said it out loud, but you loved LARPing with her. It was your way to pretend you didn’t live the life that you did. She was one of your best friends…” Dean watched intently and laughed along with Cas as he told the stories of Charlie and LARPing and the bunker. Castiel even began to laugh the  _ tiniest  _ bit when Cas told them about the time Charlie made Cas go LARPing with her. 

“You keep saying ‘was’. What happened to her?” Dean finally asks. Cas’ expression turns solemn. “She gave her life to save yours. Charlie was the bravest of us all. She would not give up on you, even after you gave up on yourself.”

Dean reaches over and gives Cas’ leg a reassuring squeeze and a soft smile. He was grateful to have had a friend like her in another life.

 

xx 

 

“But I’m booooooooored, Sam!” Gabriel whines and leans over dramatically in the passenger seat. 

“I said  _ no _ , Gabriel,” Sam says, so  _ painfully _ annoyed that he is currently gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles.

“I have to agree with Sam. That is a poor idea…” Henry adds quietly from the back seat.

“I wasn’t asking you, gramps,” Gabriel says as he flicks the spanish radio on the highest volume for the  _ millionth time _ that day. Henry sighs defeatedly.

 

Sam has been forced to listen to  _ very _ loud and  _ very  _ annoying spanish music multiple time in the last five minutes alone. He has endured having the car turned into a giant moose, almost crashing from choking on skittles he inhaled after  _ thousands of them suddenly appeared and filled the car _ , Gabriel’s feet in his face from sitting upside down, having his hair turned neon pink, and now Gabriel wanted to go into Dean’s car. Sam  _ knows _ Dean will be furious with what Gabriel is doing if it happens in his own car, so he’s been trying to keep Gabriel with him, but he just can’t take it anymore.

“Please? Please? Sam? Hey Sammy? Please? Sam? Sam? Sam? Sam? Saaaaam? Saaaaaaammy?” “FINE! JUST SHUT UP AND GO!” Sam yells.

Gabriel stops swinging his feet from where they are over the back of the seat. He looks at Sam from where his head is on the floor. “Actually, maybe I’ll just stay here…” He smirks evilly. 

“Go!”

With a mischievous grin and a snap of his fingers, Gabriel pops off to join the other car. 

Henry climbs into the front seat. “I am  _ so _ going to get in trouble for that…” Sam says to him.

 

xx 

 

Dean was having a nice drive. He really was. It was peaceful with one of his cassette tapes playing in the background. Cas was humming along to the words while Castiel tried to tie his tie for the first time ever. The night sky was clear, the roads open, and the time was going by a lot faster than he’d expected. 

 

Dean is focusing on the words to ‘Rock of Ages’ when something loud and annoying interrupted him. 

“Hey there, Winchester!” Gabriel yells from his sudden appearance in the back seat.

Dean swears loudly and repeatedly, nearly swerving off the road. “Goddammit, Gabriel! What the hell?!”

 

xx 

 

Sam internally breathes out a sigh of relief now that Gabriel left. Although he hates himself for now making Dean suffer, he’s glad to have a break.

The two Winchesters watch as the impala suddenly makes a beeline across the other lane, nearly crashing into the ditch. As it evens out, Sam and Henry can make out Dean through the back window giving Gabriel the finger.

“I’m guessing Gabriel made his presence known quite loudly…” Henry announces with a laugh. Sam shakes his head and chuckles. “Yep. Dean’s gonna kill me.”

 

xx 

 

“Goddammit, I’m gonna  _ kill _ Sam for this!” Dean yells.

“I doubt that, being brothers and your highest need in life seems to be protecting each other at all costs,” Castiel points out from the backseat next to Gabriel. Dean groans. “Ya know what, just forget it. What do you want, Gabriel?”

“Can’t I just pop in and say hi to a few friends?” he asks innocently. 

“No,” everyone in the car replies.

Gabriel puts his hands up in surrender. “Sheesh. I see when I’m not wanted. Just for that...” he leans up over the seat so his head is poking in between Dean and Cas, “I’m gonna speed things up a little.” He brings his fingers up into a snapping position. 

“No!” Dean and Cas yell. Castiel seems indifferent to whatever is going on.

The sound of snapping is the last thing the group hears before they find that they’re not on the road anymore.

  
  
  


Dean barrels out of the car, collapsing onto the ground and holding his chest, breathing heavily. “What the hell?” 

Sam’s car was teleported too, because he too falls out of the driver’s side door. “What the hell, Gabriel?” Sam manages to get up on his feet and walks over to help Dean up. “D-Don’t do that. Ever,” Dean says shakily and points his finger in Gabriel’s face. “What? I was too excited to wait. You’ll thank me later for not having to sleep in a crappy motel room tonight.” He walks off and turns a corner shielded by trees.

Dean looks over at Cas, expecting him to be annoyed as well, but is surprised to find a faint smile on the angel’s face as he stares at the spot where Gabriel turned the corner. “ _ Home _ …” is all he says before he disappears.    
Dean looks at Sam, who shrugs in response. 

 

Sam, Dean, and Henry grab the group’s bags and walk to the corner, followed by a confused Castiel. The brothers nearly fall over from the sight.

A  _ gigantic _ half-underground building made of brick and stone stands before them. Shadows sweep over it like a stream in the bright moonlight. 

“Welcome to the bunker,” Cas announces happily as he walks up from a dark stairwell, “I will transport your vehicles into the garage later, but for now, follow me.”

The group follows Cas down the stairwell through the door. They travel up a few flights of stairs, through another door, and are now standing on a balcony overlooking a too-dark room. 

“Henry, the lights,” Cas insists, pointing to a lever near the door.

Henry smiles for seemingly the first time since his arrival in this time and grabs the lever. With a swift push, light dissolves the darkness throughout the bunker.

“Holy…” “Shit,” Sam adds, finishing Dean’s thought.

Gabriel chooses that exact moment to appear. “I stocked the kitchen,” he announces, “Hope you guys like candy for breakfast!”

The group glares at him as they walk down the stairs into their new home.


	12. Even More Lost Winchesters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another Winchester... Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's short, but I need the short chapters to build up for what I have planned. :)

They’ve all been in the bunker for three days, and it has been the best three days of Dean’s life. Turns out, the bunker has a  _ movie theater _ . Dean popped in a few movies over the past few days. Terminator, Star Wars, and, even if he denies it, Princess Bride, were among a few of them. 

Cas enjoys watching movies with Dean. Always has. Back when he was human, he and Dean would binge watch in between hunts.

 

For the past three days, Sam has been doing research on monsters he’s never even heard of, while Gabriel and Castiel have been working with Cas to strengthen the wards in the .

Gabriel holds up his hand, “Finally done, baby bros!” Cas and Castiel exchange glances at each other before looking at Gabriel’s raised hand, confusion evident on their faces. “Seriously? Ever heard of a high five?” Realization dawns on Cas’ face. He reaches out a slaps the archangel’s hand with a small smile. Castiel watches intently, hoping to learn the purpose for this, and copies Cas’ action. Gabriel throws them both two thumbs up before leaping onto the couch for a nap. Cas turns to Castiel and begins to explain to him the meaning and purpose of high fives.

 

xx 

 

Dean walks into the library, eyes unfocused from quite-a-few too many movies and sits down next to Sam with a groan. 

“Check this out,” Sam pushes a book over for Dean to see. He grabs the book, blinking his eyes into focus. “What’s a… Shōjō?” Sam takes the book back, excitement and wonder covering his face. “It’s a japanese ghost that is invisible to everyone, get this,  _ except _ people who are drunk.” Dean leans back into the chair with a laugh, “Now that’s my kind of monster.”

 

A little while later, static begins prickling along the Winchesters’ skin. Dean is snapped out of his post-movie haze instantly, hunter instincts blaring alarms. Sam seems to sense it too because the two brothers are now standing in a defensive position, back to back, scanning the library for any sign of a threat.

A flash of light causes them to spin around. They watch as a man falls on his knees out of the flash of light. The man groans, standing up. 

The brothers run over to the man, guns drawn. He seems to be Sam’s height and has the same hair color, except it’s freakishly  _ long _ , in Dean’s opinion. His back is facing the brothers, so he puts his hands up to show that he is unarmed.

“Who are you!” Sam yells, gun pointed at the man. 

“Cas!” Dean calls. The angel appears instantly. He’s in the doorway, so the man is facing Cas. “What’s going on? Who-” Cas stops, body frozen in place and eyes locked on the man. “Cas?” Dean asks, “You know this guy?”

Dean watches as the angel’s first  _ genuine _ smile stretches across his face. “Sam…” he breathes as he races over to the man, embracing him in a hug. ‘Sam’ wraps his arms around Cas, burying his face in Cas’ shoulder. 

Sam and Dean lower their guns, no longer seeing this ‘Sam’ as a big threat.

Cas and ‘Sam’’s hug seems to last forever. When they part, ‘Sam’’s back is still facing the brothers. “It’s damn good to see you, Cas.”

Dean’s mouth falls open.  _ That voice _ .  _ It can’t be… _ “Sam?” he squeaks out. The large man almost jumps at the sound of Dean’s voice and turns around. Sam and Dean almost fall over. The man is  _ Sam.  _ But he’s different. Older. Rougher. More broken. 

The older Sam blinks tears away, chuckling a little bit. “S-Sorry. It’s just…” he points his hands towards Dean, “... _ Dean _ .” Cas lays a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. 

“What?...” Sam asks quietly. Older Sam steps closer. “I’m you. From Cas’ time anyway.” “Why are you here?” Dean asks, “ _ How _ are you here?” Older Sam motions to the chairs at one of the library tables. That’s when he spots Castiel. Sam looks at Cas and points to Castiel questioningly. “This time me.” Older Sam makes an  _ Oh _ sound and joins the group at the table.

 

“You see,” Sam starts, “When Cas went back in time and started changing events, my timeline began to disappear, things going blank or missing. The usual timeline stuff.” Dean looks at Sam and mouths ‘ _ Timeline stuff???’ _ Sam shrugs. “Anyway,” Older Sam continues, “My timeline is almost completely gone, so Chuck wanted to send me back to say my goodbyes before I disappear too.” “You’re going to disappear?...” Cas asks quietly, saddened by the news. Older Sam nods sadly in response. “Might as well make the most of it!” Gabriel calls from his place in the doorway. 

Older Sam spins around, smile on his face. “Gabe! Haha, nice to see you man, even if you don’t really know me yet.” “Cassie gave me his memories,” Gabriel shrugs, “I may as well have been there.” Older Sam stands up and meets Gabriel in a hug. He pats the archangel on the back and laughs a little. “ _ I’m hugging the trickster…” _ he thinks. “ _ I know. Cool, right? _ ” Gabriel’s voice says in his mind. Older Sam pulls away, laughing. 

 

“We’re gonna need to call one of us something different,” Sam declares. “I’m, uh, I’m fine with Sammy…” Older Sam says. The group looks at him strangely. “I kinda miss it…” They nod solemnly. 

 

Henry walks into the library. “There is a small device labeled ‘computer’, but I don’t understand how something so small could  _ possibly _ be a-” He stops when he spots an extra person in the room. Confusion fills his face. This new face is  _ Sam’s _ face.

“You’re already at Henry?” Sammy asks. “How do you know me?” Henry demands, stepping forward. “Oh, right, sorry. I’m Sam. From the future, Cas’ timeline. You can call me Sammy.” Henry looks up, mumbles, “Time travel these days,” and sits down at the table.

“To answer your question Sammy,” Cas starts, “No. I have been here for about two weeks, but Henry was necessary for the key to the bunker. I “hacked” his time travel and brought him here a few years early.” 

Sam looks at him in shock. “How did you-” “Basically, he’s more powerful than an archangel right now. Thanks to God’s little power boost,” Gabriel interrupts. 

 

Dean hasn’t said anything since Sammy appeared. He just keeps staring at him in shock. Cas seems to notice this. “Dean?” he pokes. Everyone turns to face Dean, who is still staring at Sammy. “Uh,” Sammy starts with a confused look, “What’s wrong?”

Dean rubs his hand over his face with a muffled sigh. “Why the hell did I let you grow your hair that long…?”

Sammy blinks for a few moments before laughing. 

“At least I wasn’t around to do this…” Gabriel snaps his fingers and Sammy’s hair turns neon pink.    
Sammy reaches up and grabs a piece of his hair, holding it in front of his face. “Gabriel!” he yells, shooting up from his chair.

This causes the whole group to begin laughing, practically falling over onto the floor. Except Castiel, who groans and shifts in his chair. He still doesn’t understand humanity.


	13. Caught

Ever since Sammy arrived two days ago, they’ve done nothing but crosscheck plans and ideas with each other about how to stop the apocalypse.

“So, if we kill Lilith before the 65 seals are broken, then the apocalypse can’t happen,” Dean explains.

“That is a start…” Cas says, deep in thought with their newfound plan. “But then what? The angels and demons will find a new way to restart it,” Sam counters, “Then it just starts all over again and we won’t have any idea what’s going on.”

“Samsquatch has a point,” Gabriel adds, “I don’t think either party knows we’ve got people from the future or Cassie boy’s powers, except Raphael of course. What do you think he’s doing by the way?” “Recovering, most likely,” Cas sighs. “You really did a number on him, didn’t you?” Gabriel asks. Cas nods solemnly in response.

“Wait a minute,” Sammy interjects, “What about Crowley? He can probably help.” “Oh, of course. I tend to forget he exists after the whole “Demon Dean is my bestie” thing…” Cas mulls over the memories while Sam and Dean stare at him and Sammy in confusion.

“Oh! Right! You guys don’t know him yet…” Sammy leans over the table to wave his hands around in explanation, “Crowley, right now anyway, is a crossroads demon. Calls himself King of the Crossroads. Well, he hates Lilith and Lucifer and wants to rule hell himself. Long story short, over the years, Crowley and Dean and I had become… Frienemies, if you will. He helped us sometimes, we helped him sometimes. Crowley eventually became the King of Hell. And let me tell ya,” Sammy leans back into his chair, “It’s pretty damn useful to have the King of Hell on your side,” he pauses, "On occasion..."

“Alright, well. Cas, you can get on that,” Dean instructs, “By the way, where’s Cas 2.0 and Henry?”

Sam laughs. “Henry is teaching him about human things. References, food,-” “Better be something about high fives,” Gabriel interrupts. He turns to Cas, “I’m sorry baby bro, but your people skills are terrible.”

“So I’ve been told,” Cas replies with a chuckle.

 

xx

 

The bunker’s front door opens.

“Got the address ya texted," there's a brief pause, " _Holy shit_  this place is huge _._ You idjits keep finding the damn weirdest things…” Bobby walks down the stairs into the library. Only one person is in there right now. Sam.

“Gotta tell ya boy. This,” he motions to everything around him, “Is way above even me.”

Bobby looks back at Sam, who is now standing. Sam is looking at him in shock, disbelief, and a whole bunch of other emotions.

Bobby squints a little at him, scanning him up and down. “Did ya do something to your hair?”

“B-Bobby?” Sam asks, eyes glossy with tears. He walks up to him and embraces him in a hug. “I’ve missed you Bobby…” he says quietly.

When they part, Bobby gives him a strange look. “You saw me only a damn week ago, Sam.”

“Bobby.” He turns around to see _Sam_ standing in the doorway. Bobby looks from Sam, to Sam, to Sam, to Sam, to… Bobby whips around, gun pointed at the Sam he was just speaking to. “You’re not Sam…” he declares.

He is about to pull the trigger on the over emotional man before Sam yells, “No! Bobby don’t!”

Bobby hesitates, gun still locked on the other Sam. “What the hell is going on?”

Sam rushes over and pushes Bobby’s gun down carefully. “Remember how Cas came from the future and now there are two of him? Well there’s two of me now. This is Sam,” he gestures to his lookalike, “He goes by Sammy around here. He’s from Cas’ time. His timeline disappeared, so God sent him here to help and say goodbye before he disappears too.”

Bobby squints, trying to understand. He eventually gives up, but still accepts that Sammy isn’t a shapeshifter of some sort and that’s good enough for him.

 

xx

 

“I’m assuming I’m not around in your time…” Bobby states when he and Sammy are alone. Sammy nods, sniffling briefly. “How’d I go?” “Uh, bullet,” Samy point to his forehead, “Right to the head.” “Hmph. I thought a monster woulda gotten me.” “Oh, it did. Dick Roman. He was the leader of these things called Leviathan… And he shot you. You did come back as a ghost. Helped Dean and I out a bit. But you had to go when you became malevolent...”

"Damn," Bobby says after a while, "You boys have sure been through hell..." Sam chuckles briefly, "Literally."

 

xx

 

“Hey Sam? The wonder twins and I are going with Henry out for some grub. Wanna come?” Dean calls into Sam’s room. “Nah. Sammy is gonna run over some ideas with Castiel, Bobby, and I  for stopping the apocalypse. But hey, if you think your burgers are more important, then by all means. Go and eat.” “Whatever, Bitch.” “Bye, Jerk.”

  


Gabriel, Henry, Cas, and Dean step outside. They breathe in deeply, savoring the fresh air for the first time since they’ve arrived at the bunker. In the blink of an eye, they find themselves transported somewhere else. _Heaven’s jail_.

They all find themselves locked in individual cells.

“Long time no see, Castiel,” Zachariah steps into view, menacing smile on his face, “Heaven has been searching for you. We figured Bobby Singer has to meet up with the Winchesters _eventually_ . So we put a little tracking spell on him. But _oh!_ How surprised we all were when our spell suddenly stopped working as soon as he set foot into that little bunker of yours.”

“Who are you?” Dean demands. Zachariah turns around, now facing Dean. “It’s about time we met, Dean Winchester. I am Zachariah. And I will be the one who gets you to say yes to being Michael’s vessel.” “I’ll never say it!” Dean all but yells. “Eh. Maybe, maybe not. There are others besides you,” Zachariah turns to Henry, “This other Winchester, for instance. A little outdated, but Michael won’t mind. He’s pretty old fashioned himself.” “I’ll never say yes either!” Henry declares.

Zachariah steps back, grinning at his job of ruffling the group's feathers. “My, my, my. I never knew the three of you could be so _annoying_.”

“I think you mean four,” another voice calls. Zachariah spins around and watches in shock as a fourth man walks up to the front of his cell. “If you think _they’re_ annoying, you haven’t met me yet.”

Zachariah nearly smites himself. _Gabriel_ , the thought-to-be-dead-archangel that has been missing _since the beginning of time_ , is cockily leaning against the door to one of heaven’s jail cells.

“We need to speak to Raphael, Zacky,” Gabriel says. Zachariah shakes his head in response, unable to form words. Gabriel sighs. “Hit it, Casanova.”

Zachariah watches with a mix or terror and awe as Cas stretches out his hand, eyes glowing. The doors to the four cells disintegrate instantaneously and the four men walk out, coughing through the dust.

“Raphael was right…” Zachariah mutters quietly. They all turn to him, but he is staring only at Cas, fear on his face. “...you’re not a seraph anymore… _Brothers! Sisters!”_ he calls _._ Dean and Gabriel make a move to run, but Cas stops them. “No running. Let them come. Then maybe we’ll see Raphael.” As soon as he says this, all of the heavenly host converges on the four of them.


	14. Pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING**
> 
> The beginning of this chapter is kinda graphic. Just thought I should warn you.

 

Pain. That’s all Dean felt when the angels converged on him. The utter force and raw power of the angels’ grace pounding into him shook him. Dean screamed as his skin tore. His eyes burned out of his skull. His eardrums and bones shattered. His insides boiled and cooked from the superheated grace. He could feel his soul being ripped to pieces. If not for the angels forcefully keeping him alive and conscious, Dean would have died or passed out instantly. 

 

That’s what he wishes for, death, as he lays in a pool of his own blood. At least, that’s what he thinks it is. Being rendered mute, blind, and in extreme pain really dulls his senses. Dean tries to call out to Cas, but his throat is too raw from his screaming to utter even a sound. He begins shaking and crying, tears running down his face... or maybe it's blood...  _ ‘This is it,’  _ he thinks,  _ ‘I’m going to die…’  _

  
  


The angels’ attack was more powerful than Gabriel expected. Their grace knocked into his with apprehension at first. He could hear their whispers asking about the missing archangel. But eventually, they stopped questioning their orders and blasted at Gabriel with full force. Their grace knocked him to his knees, burning his grace and skin. He ground his teeth, fighting back the urge to yell out. 

This seemed to last forever. By the time they stopped, Gabriel’s grace was was nothing but a tattered mess of light, barely useful for anything anymore.

 

Gabriel wakes up from his unconsciousness to find that he is chained to a chair. His mind begins to pull back into darkness. His eyes blur and strain against the harsh lights above him. Through the ringing in his ears, Gabriel can hear something, almost like sobbing. His head lols to the side and his eyes, unfocused as they may be, see Dean. But he doesn’t look like Dean anymore. Nothing but a bloody pile of flesh and bones. Using all his effort, Gabriel turns away from the gruesome sight. As some sort of a blessing,he slips back into unconsciousness.

  
  


Henry began to hear the high pitched sound of the angels approaching. Dean was already on the ground, screaming and covering his ears trying to block out the sound. Frantically, he ran back into his cell, looking for  _ anything  _ sharp enough to make a cut. His eyes fell on a small pile of rubble in the corner. Henry ripped open his shirt to reveal a sigil on his stomach. It’s scarred over with age, but it’s still there. Using a piece of rock form the pile, Henry made a cut on his hand, said a short incantation, and slammed his bloody hand down on the sigil. He cried out as the cuts of the sigil reopened. 

In a matter of seconds, Henry was no longer in heaven.

 

Henry can hear footsteps rushing over to where he is laying on the ground. There are voices, but they’re muffled by the intense ringing in his ears. He can feel large, callused hands lift him effortlessly. Even though his eyes are closed, he knows exactly who it is. Henry smiles weakly, knowing he is safely in the bunker, before darkness overtakes him. 

  
  


Cas was getting worried. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to have Henry, Gabriel, and Dean with him while he meets with Raphael. He reached out to try and heal Dean’s shattering eardrums, but the angels had begun to knock into him. Channeling his grace, Cas began to make a forcefield, just like the one that he made when his emotions overtook him. 

Cas sat there in his own bubble, watching as the grace of his brothers and sisters shatters upon impact with it. Knowing they were just following orders and didn’t deserve to suffer with their broken grace, Cas healed them as soon as they stopped attacking. Most of them, upon realizing that they had been healed, sent a silent thank you to Cas over angel radio and left, going back to their posts around heaven. 

 

Cas would have made a forcefield around the others, but the attack only lasts a few seconds. They are instantly transported into a white room that Cas has never seen before. It is void of anything, even a door, except a battered and bloody Dean in the corner, a broken archangel strapped to a chair in the middle of the room, and himself.

Cas can feel the pain coming off of Dean in waves as his sobs pierce through the silence. Gabriel is in blissful unconsciousness. Cas looks around in confusion when he realizes Henry is not with them. He closes his eyes and reaches out for Henry’s soul. Finding it still alive, he sends out a message. ‘ _ Still alive. I will bring them back safe. -Cas.’  _

  
  


xx 

  
  


At the edges of his consciousness, Henry can feel something. It’s not so much something physical, as it is a feeling. Words trying to push their way into his mind.

Henry’s eyes flutter open to see the ceiling of his bedroom in  the bunker. He hisses as he sits up. Looking down, he sees that his shirt is gone and his torso is wrapped in bandages. He suspects Castiel attempted to heal it, as it is mostly healed.

Henry never thought that sigil would be of any use in his life. The Men of Letters required it though. It’s linked with the bunker so that, when used with fresh blood and an incantation, allows oneself to be transported into the bunker in case of emergencies.

 

Henry groans as he wobbles down the hallway. The ringing in his ears is still there, but he can still here the arguing coming from the library.

“You can’t go, Cas! We don’t even know if they’re there!” Sam yells.

“I have to, Sam! Even with the protection from Cas, there is still a possibility that Raphael has taken them!” Castiel argues.

“No, Castiel. Even if heaven _ does _ have them, you’re the only angel power we’ve got left! We need a plan,” Bobby says.

Henry stumbles into the library. “An angel named Zachariah took us.” All eyes turn to him. “Henry. You shouldn’t be up,” Sammy says, walking over to help him to a chair. He sits down in the chair with a groan. 

“What happened, Henry?” Sam asks worriedly, “Is Dean…?” “No. Well, I don’t know. I left before the angels got to me. Zachariah followed him,” he motions to Bobby, “ to the bunker. As soon as we stepped outside, we were transported to heaven’s jail. Cas broke us out, but Zachariah called all the angels in heaven to converge on us. I knew I needed to tell you all what was happening, so I used my transportation sigil,” he points to his stomach, "to bring me here.” 

Henry suddenly stares ahead at nothing, eyes unblinking and unfocused. “Uh… Henry?” Sammy asks. He waves a hand in front of Henry’s face, but doesn’t get a response. 

“Let me,” Castiel says as he steps forward. He puts a hand on Henry’s forehead. “It seems as though there is a message… I just have to…” Henry breathes in deeply, eyes blinking rapidly. He stops and seems to listen for a moment. He breathes a sigh of relief. “They’re alive. Cas is going to bring them back safely.” 

“I still believe that we should help,” Castiel says stubbornly. “You can’t go alone,” Sam says to him, “I’ll go with you.” “They’ll kill you,” Sammy says, “I’m more familiar with angels, so I will go.” “So it is done,” Castiel says as he snaps his fingers, leaving Sam, Bobby, and Henry alone in the bunker.

 

xx

 

Cas finishes sending the message to Henry, when a ring of holy fire appears, surrounding him. 

“I’ve been waiting for you, Castiel,” Raphael states as he appears in the front of the room. Cas ignores him and looks at Dean with worried eyes. He should be  _ dead _ , but Raphael is forcefully keeping him alive and in pain. 

“Let Dean and Gabriel go, Raphael,” Cas says threateningly. 

“You want me to let Gabriel  _ go? _ After rebelling and living on earth since the dawn of man? He does not deserve that kind of luxury. Not anymore. What he  _ deserves _ is death for his decisions.” Raphael’s archangel sword appears in his hand as he walks toward the still unconscious Gabriel. “ _ No! _ ” Cas yells as the sword plunges through Gabriel. His eyes shoot open as he cries out, tattered grace glowing and then fading. 

Gabriel’s lifeless body is surrounded by the burnt shadow of mighty wings, covering the white room.

Cas falls to his knees, crying softly for his fallen brother. “Now than,” Raphael interrupts, “Shall we continue?”

Cas is on his feet in the blink of an eye. “I will find a way bring him back, Raphael. And you will no longer be around to see it,” Cas booms, shaking the small room.

“You can’t resurrect an  _ angel _ . Even if you could, how would you do that without your grace?” Raphael grins evilly. 

Cas’ confidence falters for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you see Castiel. Your grace is more powerful than anything I’ve ever seen. I want it-” “I’ll never give it to you!” Cas interrupts. Raphael glares at him, “Yes you will. If not, I will kill Dean Winchester,” he holds his hand up in a snapping position. “You can’t. You need him.” “There are others. Now. I’ll give you to the count of three.”

“One.”

“No.”  _ ‘If Raphael gets my grace, the universe is surely over,’  _ Cas thinks.

“Two.”

“ _No.”_ _‘...but if Dean’s dead,_ my _universe is over…’_

“Three.”

Before Cas can say anything, Raphael snaps his fingers. Cas watches in horror as Dean cries out weakly, death consuming him.  _ “Dean!” _ he yells, but it’s too late. Dean Winchester is dead.

Cas’ tearfilled eyes turn to Raphael, who looks indifferent. He shrugs. “Well, plan B, I guess.” A book appears in Raphael’s hands. He flips through the pages till he finds the one he’s looking for. “I get your grace either way, Castiel. This spell allows me to take it from you,” he leans in closer, “Dean didn’t have to die.  _ You _ killed him, Castiel.” He steps back and starts reading the enochian.

 

xx 

 

Zachariah is sitting at his desk, reading up on some missions. He looks up in shock to see Castiel and Sam Winchester standing in front of him. He stands up quickly, panic evident on his face. “H-How are you here?! You’re with Raphael!” he says to Castiel. He turns to Sam. “How did you even  _ get _ here? How did you get into heav-” he pauses, looking closer at Sam, “You are not the Sam of this time…” 

“I’m Sammy. Castiel and I have come for the others.”

“I don’t understand. Castiel, you’re with…” Zachariah squints, “You are different than you were earlier…” his eyes widen with realization, “There are two of you…”

“Yes,” Castiel replies, “Now tell me where Raphael is,” he hold up his hand, eyes glowing, “Or I will kill you.”

Zachariah tells them and Castiel flies himself and Sammy to the white room.

 

When they arrive, Raphael is chanting something in enochian at Cas, who is groaning from the spell from inside a ring of holy fire, giant wings are seared into the floor coming from Gabriel’s body, and Dean’s bloody, lifeless body is slumped over in the corner. 

“Dean!” Sammy yells, running over. Raphael stops in surprise of the two extra visitors. He waves his hand and pins Sammy and Castiel, who is trying to put the holy fire out, against the wall. He looks from Cas, to Castiel, to Sam. “Ah…” he says realization, “Some of you are here from the future. That still doesn’t explain  _ how _ future Castiel has such strong grace, but nevermind that."

“It was given to him by God,” Castiel says fiercely.

“ _ Oh. _ God, huh? Well in that case, I don’t  _ need _ the apocalypse to rule earth. I just need future Castiel’s grace. And I  _ don’t  _ need any of you.”

Raphael extends his hand and closes his fist tightly, causing Sammy to begin choking and Castiel’s grace to weaken considerably.

Cas, regaining some of his strength, stands up with a huff. He’s breathing heavily and wobbling a bit as he looks at Raphael with murderous eyes. 

“Stop this, Raphael! I’ll kill you!” he yells.

“There’s nothing you can do to stop me! You’re  _ trapped _ , Castiel. You may be powerful, but holy fire can still kill you if crossed.”

Cas looks down at the fire in front of him with defiance. Glancing over at Sammy and Castiel on the wall, he can see that they are almost dead. 

Looking back down at the fire, Cas breathes in deeply and holds it before stepping across. Raphael drops Sammy and Castiel in horror.  _ “How?!” _ he booms, stepping back from Cas.

Cas yells as he runs and plows into the archangel. 

A huge flash of light engulfs the two angels.

 

When the light fades, there is a second pair of wings seared into the floor.

Cas is standing over Raphael’s body, breathing heavily. Without speaking, he walks over to Dean, picking up his lifeless body, and repeats with Gabriel. 

In the blink of an eye, they are all back in the bunker.

Bobby, Sam, and Henry spring up, running over to the group. Sam freezes when he sees Dean’s body. “...no…” he starts. Cas looks into his eyes, “I will bring them back, Sam,” he begins to walk down the hallway, “...even if it kills me…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The comments and kudos are much appreciated :)


	15. Dean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They sprint to each other, meeting in a bone crushing hug. Cass buries his face in Dean’s shoulder and cries. Dean, in turn, squeezes him even harder.
> 
> “I missed you Cass…” Dean whispers quietly into Cass’ ear. Cass holds him tighter, “I missed you more…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honor of MIsha's revelation that Cas is actually spelled Cass, I changed them all to Cass :)

Sam watches helplessly as Cass hauls the dead bodies of his brother and Gabriel down the hallway. His heart breaks at the thought of losing him again. 

The only thought that keeps Sam from breaking down is the hope that Cass can resurrect his big brother.

 

Sammy, on the other hand, stares at the hallway, stoney faced. He’s watched his brother die too many times. As much as it hurts, it actually makes him feel numb. Yet another loss of life for the Winchesters, or,  _ Winchester _ , now.

 

Bobby and Castiel attempt to console the two Sam’s as Henry makes his way down the aisles of books. There  _ has _ to be a way to bring an archangel back… right?

  
  
  


Against his dire need to limply collapse onto the floor and cry until there are no tears left, Cass hauls the two bodies to the spare bedroom. 

He gently places Dean down, and then Gabriel.

 

Cass can barely look at them. His eyes begin to flood with tears. He wipes them away harshly, causing his eyes to sting. But he doesn’t care. Even the  _ tiniest _ bit of physical pain is better than emotional pain any day for Cass. It’s just all been  _ too much. _

 

Knowing it will be easier to help Dean first, Cass forms a forcefield around Gabriel’s body to keep it in stasis, and goes to work on Dean. 

First, he holds his callused hands over Dean’s ribs, concentrating as his bones slowly repair into whole, even stronger, bones. Once Cass finishes that, he places one glowing hand over Dean’s heart, right over the anti possession tattoo, and the other over his handprint on Dean’s shoulder. Grace glows under his skin as it flows down his arm and pumps into Dean’s heart and arm. His veins throughout his body glow and hum with the bright blue grace so it looks as if Dean has spiderwebs glowing underneath his skin. As Cass’ grace comes into contact with in any injuries, they are instantly healed.

 

Cass steps back a few moments later. He stares at Dean, forming another stasis bubble around him as he turns to work on Gabriel.

A few minutes, later, Gabriel’s body is the same as Dean’s. Healed. But right now, they aren’t Dean and Gabriel. They are just bodies. Dean’s soul and Gabriel’s grace have yet to be put back. 

Cass puts a stasis bubble around Gabriel.

 

The best bet from where to get Dean’s soul is heaven. It will be guarded heavily, Cass knows that all too well, but he still as to try.

 

He lands around the corner from Dean’s door. Peering around the corner, he can see two angels guarding it.

Taking a deep breath to prepare himself, he marches around the corner.

The two angels spot him instantly, their angel blades dropping into their hands. They immediately go into battle positions. 

“Please brothers,” Cass says with his hands up as a show of peace, “I mean you no harm.”

The one to the left, Joviah, lowers his blade slightly. Cass recognizes him as one of the angels he healed after being forced to attack him.

“Raise your blade, Joviah!” the other angel, Muriel, demands, “No one is allowed into Dean Winchester’s heaven!” “On whose orders?” Cass requests. “Raphael,” Muriel answers him. Cass stares at them threateningly. “Raphael is dead.”

This causes the two guards to be taken aback. “No he’s not!” Muriel yells, “No one can kill Raphael!”

In Cass’ other hand, Raphael’s sword slides into his grip. It’s not glowing with the usual red fire as it did when it belonged to Raphael. It is now the cold, blue color of Cass’ eyes. 

“Let me pass brothers…” Cass vocalizes in a dark, but not  _ too _ threatening, way.

Muriel steps forward as if to fight, but Joviah grabs his arm. When Muriel turns around to yell at Joviah, Joviah shakes his head no. Muriel disappears in a fit of rage, leaving Cass and Joviah alone. 

“Thank you, Joviah.” “Good luck, Castiel.” They nod and Joviah disappears to follow after Muriel.

 

Cass stands in front of Dean’s door. He cocks his head in that bird-like way as he reads the name plate.

  
  
  
  


There is a strange, black smudge over the death date on the door, but Cass pushes that aside when he hears crashing coming from behind the door. 

Cass puts away Raphael’s sword,  _ his _ sword now, and grips his angel blade tight. He pushes through the door, not prepared for what he sees.

 

It’s the bunker. The library to be exact. Dean is tied to a chair in a devil’s trap in the center of the room. A man is leaning over in front of him, his back to Cass, as he yells  _ ‘what are you’ _ at Dean.

 

Seeing Cass, Dean calls out to him. “Cass! A little help here!”

The man stiffens and slowly straightens up. Cass tightens his grip on his blade as he slowly moves closer.

The man slowly turns around to face Cass.

 

Cass freezes, dropping his angel blade and it clatters to the ground. “D-Dean?” he whimpers quietly. “Cass…” Dean breathes. 

Dean.  _ Cass’ _ Dean.

They sprint to each other, meeting in a bone crushing hug. Cass buries his face in Dean’s shoulder and cries. Dean, in turn, squeezes him even harder. 

“I missed you Cass…” Dean whispers quietly into Cass’ ear. Cass holds him tighter, “I missed you more…”

 

They part, not far, but just enough so that they can look at each other’s faces.

Cass looks over Dean’s face, recalling the story to every little scar that appears there. When he looks into Dean’s eyes, Dean is staring at his lips, before he looks into Cass’ eyes.

They stay like that for a moment, staring into the eyes of the ones they missed most in the universe, before their lips meet in a kiss. 

It’s soft and gentle, but  _ oh so powerful _ . Their skin tingles, their minds overflow with love for each other, and it all just feels  _ right _ . 

They part only after they hear the other Dean quietly cough something along the lines of  _ “Oh, Jesus Christ. Get a room…” _ They glance into each other’s eyes for another brief second before Dean steps away to untie past Dean. 

 

“So… You and Cass were a thing…” past Dean says.

Dean throws a small smile back at Cass as he finishes untying the ropes. “I guess you could say that.”

Past Dean goes to stand up, but collapses to the ground with a thud and a groan. Cass rushes over, putting his palm on his forehead. He closes his eyes and concentrates. “Hmm,” he opens his eyes and stands up, “Your soul is badly damaged. I will not be able to take you to your body in this state…” Cass opens his hand, palm up, and forms a small, glowing ball.

He pushes is into past Dean’s chest and it passes through easily, “It will take some time, but this piece of my grace will heal your soul.” 

“Got a power boost, I see,” Dean says as he wraps his arm around Cass’ shoulder. Cass blushes. “You got that right,” past Dean answers for the angel, “From  _ God _ .” Dean raises his eyebrows in a  _ ‘wow, really?’ _ kind of way. The angel nods.

  
  


“Dean, there’s something I have to tell you,” Cass says after telling Dean all about the time traveling, “It’s Sam. Chuck sent him back to this time to say goodbye. He’s disappearing, given that his timeline was erased. When he disappears, I do not know if he will be here in heaven, or just gone. Dean?” he looks to past Dean, who is lounging in the chair, “If it is alright with you, I would like to take Dean down in your body to say goodbye to Sam, in case Sam is not going to be in heaven.” 

Dean looks at future Dean, “Hey man, mi body, su body. Heh, literally.”

  
They say their goodbyes, promising to return soon. Cass takes Dean’s hand in his, and flies him out of heaven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally have some CASDEAN action :)))))


	16. Incessant Poking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the shortness of this chapter. I'm struggling with a bit of writers block so I put some sort-of-fluff in to pass the time :)

Dean and Cass stand there, Dean invisibly looking at his old body lying on the bed. He looks over at Gabriel. “Damn… Gabriel’s gone too?” Cass nods, “Not for long. I will bring him back.”

Dean throws Cass a soft smile before Cass places him in his old body.

 

Cass waits patiently for Dean to wake up. He holds Dean’s hand, tracing circles on it with his thumb. Cass squints as he uses his grace to poke at Dean’s mind. 

*poke*  _ no response _

*poke*  _ no response _

*poke*  _ annoyed moaning noises _

*poke*  _ dammit Cass I’m comfy in here leave me be _

*poke* Dean cracks his eyes open and looks up at Cass to find him smirking at him.

“You bitch…” Dean grumbles as he pulls Cass onto the bed, wrestling with him until Dean has him pinned underneath his body. He gives Cass a soft kiss on the lips, humming happily.

Cass starts talking, but Dean interrupts him with little pecks on his lips. “Before you-” *kiss* “-go out there-” *kiss* “-I should tell them-” *kiss* “-that you’re not-” *kiss* “-the other you.” Dean looks at him with annoyed, squinted eyes. “Fine. But hurry up.” Cass gives him a smile and a peck on the cheek before crawls out from under Dean.

  
  


When Cass arrives at the library, Sam practically sprints over to him, bombarding him with questions about Dean and Gabriel. He holds up his hand to silence him. 

“I have not started on Gabriel yet. He will be harder to resurrect, if I can even do it, which I  _ will _ . I repaired Dean’s body, but when I went into heaven to retrieve his soul, I found that it was too weak from the angel attack to be brought back,” Sam begins to tear up, “With time, I can bring him back,” Sam breathes out in relief. Cass turns to Sammy, “Dean was there,” Sammy looks up, a little bit confused, “...Our Dean.” 

Sammy shoots up, racing over to Cass as Sam had done, for answers. “I told him of your disappearing problem. There is a chance that once you are erased, you will not exist in heaven. Both Deans exist in heaven because time passes differently inside the individual heavens, so it is possible for Dean’s soul to exist from two points in time, in the same heaven since time had not been altered yet. It’s complicated-” “Cass,” Sammy interrupts, “You’re rambling…” “Oh right, yes. Back to Dean. I told him of your disappearing problem and gave him the option to come say goodbye while past him heals,” Cass smiles widely at Sammy, “He’s in the spare room.”

  
  


Sammy sprints out of the library to the spare room. He almost falls over when he sees  _ Dean _ sitting on the bed. “Dean!” he yells. “Sammy…” 

The brothers embrace, breathing in the familiar smell they missed so much. They squeeze each other tightly as if to make sure they are still there.

They are reluctant to part, but eventually do.

“Dean, you look-” “Pretty damn smokin, right? Back in my  _ young _ body.” Dean wiggles his eyebrows at Sammy. He punches Dean in the shoulder lightly, both of them laughing. “Yep. Now I definitely know it’s you.”

  
The brothers walk, arms slung around each other’s shoulders, into the library.


	17. A New (Old?) Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry and Castiel find an impossible spell that might just work to resurrect Gabriel and Dean forget's he is in the past when they meet up with an old friend. Or is it enemy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a good excuse for posting so late :P

_ “Holy shit,” _ Dean breathes when he walks into the library. He leaves his little brother’s side and walks over to the even littler version that is standing next to a table. He circles around him, inspecting him with his head slightly turned, similar to what Cas does.

Sam gives him a funny look as Dean stares at him.

Dean turns back to Sammy, eyebrows raised high in shock. “Your hair was so  _ short! _ ” he practically yells while pointing to Sam’s hair, which is just below his ears.

“ _ Dean? _ ” a quiet voice asks behind the group.

Sam, Sammy, Cas, and Dean spin around to see Henry in the doorway. He is carrying a large pile of books, Castiel doing the same beside him. Henry is not wearing a shirt, so his torso is exposed, wrapped in bandages covering his healing wounds.

“Henry?” Dean asks, obviously confused, “You’re already this far?” he asks to the group.

“Cas pulled Henry through time with an ancient spell to arrive here much earlier than planned so we could obtain the key to the bunker,” Castiel answers for them. 

Cas steps forward. “Uh, this is Dean. From my time,” he says to Henry. Henry stares at Dean for a moment before shaking his head, clearly confused. “I’m not quite sure what to say to that…”

  
  


Castiel sets his and Henry’s piles of book down on the table with a thud. “Henry and I may have found a way to resurrect Gabriel,” Castiel starts, “It’s a spell from after Lucifer’s fall. The demons attempted to resurrect him to wreak havoc on earth, but he was never truly dead, so the spell failed.”

“So we don’t even know if it’ll work,” Dean snorts.

Castiel glares at Dean annoyingly, a look he has begun to master. “You’re right. There is no guarantee it will work. Plus the ingredients are nearly  _ impossible _ to obtain.” Castiel opens up a book sitting on top of the pile and flips through it. Finding the correct page, he begins to read off the ingredients, “An apple from the Tree of Life, Blood of the First of the Fallen, Waters of the Great Flood, an Archangel’s Grace, and power from God.”

All four of the Winchesters’ mouths were wide open. 

“When you told me about the spell, you should have told me that first or I wouldn’t have bothered suggesting it to them,” Henry states.

Cas clears his throat loudly, all eyes now on him. “I, uh, am able to retrieve one of the items right now.”

In the blink of an eye, Cas is gone.

  
  


A few minutes later, the sound of flapping wings causes everyone to look up from their research. Cas is standing in the center of the room, soaking wet. He holds up a vial of water, which Castiel takes. “Check off the flood waters,” he says with a huff, wiping freezing cold water from his face.

 

xx 

  
  


“Hey Dean?” “Yeah Sammy?” “You want any food?” “Nah. I’m good.” “Sam? How about you?” “No thanks, Sammy.” “Castiel? No, wait, you don’t eat. Henry?” “I’m fine. Thank you, Sammy.”

Only after this exchange does Cas realize something. 

“Where’s Bobby?”

Everyone looks up from their books and glance around. 

“Bobby’s here…?” Dean asks quietly. Cas nods and Dean smiles softly to himself.

“Bobby?” Sammy begins to call, “Bobby!”

 

xx

 

Bobby stepped into the kitchen for a snack. Down the hallway, he heard a voice. Curiously, he crept down the hallway to listen.

“Kill Zachariah, take over heaven… No… Overthrown in a matter of days most likely.” It was Cas. Bobby rolled his eyes. Sometimes Cas would talk to himself about plans. Bobby was about to leave when the next thing caught his attention. “Make the demon Crowley help… Possibly… He’s not as powerful yet… Yes. Use Crowley. Dean would have…”

_ ‘Crowley?’ _ Bobby thinks to himself,  _ ‘Well, if Cas wants to use a demon for something, might as well get a head start.’ _

 

Bobby walked down into the dungeon he stumbled upon a few days ago with a plan. 

Summon the demon. 

Trap it. 

Convince it that the only way it will leave alive is to help. 

And once it helps, 

_ boom _ . 

One less demon in existence.

  
  


With the ingredients prepared in the bowl, Bobby begins the incantation. 

“Et ad congregandum…” He hears his name being called, but lights the match while finishing the incantation, “...eos coram me.” He drops the match into the bowl, which blazes with a burst of hellfire.

Bobby looks up to see a man dressed in a black suit. His eyes flash red for a moment. 

“ _ Bollocks… _ ” the demon breathes.

 

xx 

 

“Bobby!” Sammy calls.

Just then, Cas eyes go wide. They glow with his grace and his new blue flaming sword drops into his hand. “Demon,” is all he says before he disappears.

  
  
  


Cas appears in front of Bobby, eyes glowing and sword still blazing. The demon jumps at the sight, not expecting it at all.

Cas’ stance relaxes, his eyes return to normal, and his sword disappears. “Oh,” he grumbles, “It’s just you.”

“If I woulda known you’d react like this I woulda told you I was summoning him,” Bobby says defensively. Cas brushes it off.

 

Remembering he left the others, probably in a panicked frenzy, Cas snaps his fingers, making the executive decision to only have the necessary people in the room. Bobby is teleported out, while Sammy, Dean, and Castiel appear in the dungeon.

Dean stumbles, still not used to angel airways. “What the  _ hell _ Cas?!’” he yells. He is about to rant on when he notices Crowley in the middle of the room, looking skeptically at Cas. “ _ You? _ ” he looks at Cas, “ _ Him?”  _ Sammy sighs in annoyance.

“We may need his help for the ingredients,” Cas responds.

“I’m sorry. Have we  _ met _ ?” Crowley huffs at Dean. 

Dean is prepared to quip in response, but Crowley cuts him off. “And who the hell are you?” he demands Cas.

“I am Castiel, angel of the lord.” Suspiciously, Crowley looks him up and down. He glances to Castiel, doing the same thing, and back to Cas. “No,” Crowley responds, “You’re  _ like _ an angel. Your grace is brighter than a normal angel like him…” he stops and squints, looking at Castiel closer, “Wait a second… Your graces have the same  _ exact _ enochian roots. How is that bloody possible?” 

“Welcome to time travel, Boris,” Dean says with a smirk. Crowley raises an eyebrow in question. “Rockie and Bullwinkle? Moose and Squirrel?” He gestures to Sammy and himself.

“Huh,” the demon says after a moment, “Wish I’d thought of that myself…”

“What are you talking about? That’s all you ever call us!” Dean argues. “I’ve never even bloody  _ met _ you before!” Crowley counters loudly.

Dean purses his lips in confusion. He steps back and Sammy puts a hand on his shoulder. “He doesn’t know us yet. Way to make a good first impression, jerk.” “Oh shut up bitch.” “Oi!” Crowley interrupts, “Will someone explain to me what the  _ hell _ is going on?!”

 

Before Sammy, Dean, or Cas can think of a good lie to tell, Castiel steps forward. “Sammy, Cas, and Dean’s soul inside his younger body are from 8 years in the future and they need your help to resurrect Ga-mmfff!” Cas throws a hand over Castiel’s mouth.

He uses his powers to speak into Castiel’s mind.  _ “Gabriel’s identity must remain a secret at all costs.” _

Castiel nods and Cas removes his hand slowly.

 

During the exchange between the Castiels, Crowley moved to the very back of the devil’s trap, eager to get away from the obvious psychopaths.

“Will you help us?” Sammy asks hopefully. The demon seems to ponder this for a moment. “Why would I help you?” he asks.

“Because we are friends, that’s why,” Cas replies. “Pssh. Yes, because the King of the Crossroads is  _ definitely _ friends with an angel...” he waves his hands around, gesturing to Cas’ strange grace, “thing, and a couple of pathetic hunters.”

Cas steps into the devil’s trap, walks up to Crowley, and puts his palm on the demon’s forehead. “Perhaps this will change your mind.”

 

Visions suddenly flash through Crowley’s mind. Visions of himself and the one called Dean, except older and rougher, laughing over a beer as if they were two normal friends. Visions of himself and the tall one, Sammy, except more broken and sadder, driving in a black car across the country, bickering like two old friends. Visions of himself and the angel Castiel, except slightly less broken, sassing each other while working on cases as if they weren’t two enemy species. Visions of himself, high and mighty, ruling all of hell, with a bit of assistance of the hunters of course.

 

Cas removes his hand, causing Crowley to stumble forward, breathing heavily. He blinks his eyes into focus. Clearing his throat, he stands up and straightens his jacket. “Well, I guess that’s a start, whatever all of…  _ that _ … was,” he huffs, “So. Shall we?” Crowley motions to the devil’s trap and then the door, indicating he wants to leave.

 

Cas exchanges uncertain looks with Sammy and Dean, who nod in response. He bends down and touches two fingers to the outer circle of the devil’s trap. The trap slowly begins to glow and fade as he quiety mutters an incantation.

When the trap is completely faded, Crowley steps out with a smirk. 

Cas lifts his fingers and the devil’s trap gradually appears once more.

 

Sammy and Dean look at Crowley doubtfully. The demon puts his hands up in mock surrender. “How do we know you’re not gonna pull something on us?” Sammy asks cautiously. 

Crowley chuckles. “You  _ don’t _ know that. But I  _ am _ interested to see exactly who you people are.”

The sudden sound of chains clanking draws everyone’s attention to Crowley’s wrists. He holds them up in confusion and annoyance to show spelled handcuffs. 

“I’m not taking any chances,” Cas grumbles as he begins to lead the King of the Crossroads to the door.


	18. Confusing Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO POST!!

_ “Hey!  _ Watch the suit! I just got it tailored,” Crowley yells as Cas pushes him through the door with annoyance. The angel never really liked Crowley, especially after the Demon Dean fiasco.

The demon pauses in the doorway, admiring the vast size of the library-like room he was pushed into. “Interesting place…” he says, “You live here?” 

“Damn right we do,” a gruff says. Crowley and the others turn to see 3 people step out from behind a bookcase, salt loaded shotguns at the ready. 

Dean steps in front of Crowley to shield him from trigger-happy fingers, “We put spelled handcuffs on him, so we’re safe,” he looks back at Crowley skeptically, “For the most part...”

The 3 people lowers their guns hesitantly. Crowley notices that the tall one looks exactly like Sammy, but with shorter hair. “You must be Samantha number two.” Sam shifts, “He knows?” Castiel nods, “My apologies.”

Sam smiles, “It’s alright Castiel. He was bound to figure it out eventually.” “That’s it,” Crowley interrupts, “I have questions.”

 

Sam, Sammy, Dean, Cas, Castiel, Bobby, Henry, and Crowley gather around a table in what Cas refers to as ‘the war room’. Cas sits down closely next to Dean, their knees touching not-so-innocently underneath the table.

 

“Before I asks any questions, who the hell are you two?” Crowley points to Bobby and Henry.

“I’m Bobby and that’s all you need to know right now.” “I am Henry, Sam and Dean’s grandfather.” Crowley gives him a funny look. Henry looks the same age, if not younger, than the brothers. 

Dean leans in, “Time travel, man. I’ll never get used to it.”

“Just to get things straight, who here is from the future?” the demon asks. Sammy, Dean, and Cas raise their hands. “Except this body,” Dean points to himself, “is from this time. In the future, I’m dead, so while the me-from-this-time’s soul is healing upstairs, I get to walk around in my younger body until he gets all fixed up.” Sammy cuts in, “Bobby, Sam, and Castiel are from this time, and Henry is from the past.”

Crowley stares at them dumbfounded, attempting to process what he has been told.

 

“Alright. So let me get this straight,” the demon says, “Sammy, Cas, and Dean’s soul are from the future for some reason. Bobby, Sam, Dean’s body, and Castiel are from this time and Henry is from the past for a completely different reason.” “That about sums it up,” Bobby replies with a huff. “Hmm… I’ll ask more about that later,” he turns to Sammy and Dean, “What I don’t understand, is who you are. We seemed to be friends in the future, but it just doesn't make sense. You two aren’t important. You’re just  _ hunters _ .”

“They Sam and Dean are the most important people in the world!” Castiel booms. “Even more than you realize,” Cas adds.

 

“Do you know who Lilith is?” Sammy asks and Crowley nods in response. “Do you know what that bitch is trying to do?” Dean follows. Crowley nods, “The apocalypse or something like that using that guy those angels pulled out of hell and his brother,” he chuckles, “Wouldn’t want to be those poor sods.”

Dean sighs, “Well, you’re looking at ‘em.” 

The demon looks from Sammy to Dean quizzically, “I beg your pardon?” 

Castiel answers for them, “Dean is the righteous man, destined to be the vessel of the Archangel Michael. Sam is the boy king, destined to be the vessel of the fallen one, Lucifer… Though, I do not wish for that to happen…”

Crowley stares at the brothers for a few moments longer, taking in the startling news. “No…” he chuckles, “No. That… That’s a funny story, but no.”

“How else do you explain that we know Lilith’s plans and not to mention the  _ angels” _ Sam gestures to the two Castiels, “Who aren’t even supposed to be here unless it’s for the apocalypse.”

Crowley purses his lips in thought before his face morphs into realization and says, “Bloody hell…” He shakes his head in disbelief. He turns to Cas, “Alright, now then, what are you? You have an archangel sword, but you’re not Gabriel, Raphael, Michael, or Lucifer, now are you?”

“No I am not an archangel… Officially.” Cas calls his flaming blue archangel sword to his hand and holds it up, inspecting it closely. “This was the sword that belonged to Raphael before he was put down. I claimed it as I thought it could be useful in the days ahead.”

Crowley laughs to himself, “How many of your feathered friends did it take to finally kill that bastard? Was there a revolution I wasn’t told about?” “No one but Raphael died and there was no revolution.” “Do you expect me to believe that it was, what…  _ You _ that took him out?” “Yes.”

Crowley barks out laugher, but pauses when he sees the serious faces of everyone at the table. 

“...Really? Just you?  _ How _ ?” “That is on a ‘Need To Know’ basis,” Cas looks at Dean and whispers, “Did I use that phrase correctly?” Dean chuckles and nods as he slings an arm over Cas’ shoulder casually

Crowley blinks back confusion. The next few minutes are followed by demands from the demon for something strong to drink.

 

After another hour or so of getting Crowley caught up on what’s going on, Sammy, Dean, and Cas usher the demon into a more private area, away from the others.

“The reason we summoned you,” Sammy starts, “is because we need your help.” “There’s this spell. It’s  _ really _ old and the ingredients are almost  _ impossible _ to get,” Dean adds. “We need you to retrieve some of the for us,” Cas finishes.

“Okay… What’s in it for me?” Crowley asks. “With our help, you will become the King of Hell and our little apocalypse problem will go away,” Dean says.

“Hmm,” Crowley downs his glass of scotch, “Alright. What do you need?”

Sammy pulls a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to the demon.

 

“Bloody hell… What the  _ hell _ is this spell for?  An apple from the Tree of Life? Blood of the  _ First of the Fallen _ ? Waters of the Great Flood? An Archangel’s Grace?!  _ Power from God _ ?! Where the bloody hell are you going to get  _ power from God _ ?!” Crowley looks are the three standing in front of him with a look of disbelief.

“That is, once again, on a ‘Need To Know’ basis,” Cas says. Dean cracks him a small smile.

“We need you to get the apple and we need your help with the blood,” Sam says as he points to those two ingredients.

“...You people are insane. But fine,” Crowley holds the cuffs up to them, “I think I have the apple in storage.” 

Cas releases him and Crowley disappears.

 

A few minutes later, he returns with a glass box, the apple perfectly preserved inside it’s transparent walls. Cas touches a finger to it and it disappears to join the other ingredients already gathered. 

“Now then,” the demon looks from person to person, “Lucifer’s blood… Shall we?”


	19. And The Memories Come Flooding Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Major fluff warning... after something bad of course (sorry not sorry :P)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone finds any mistakes that don't match up in the story, PLEASE tell me!! I've been writing this for almost FOUR months and I get a little fuzzy on the details sometimes.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are much appreciated!!!
> 
> Hope you like it!! :)

The mission to retrieve a vial of Lucifer’s blood consists of Crowley, Sammy, Dean, and Cas.

The plan is this:

Crowley will lead Sammy, Dean, and Cas into the depths of hell where the cage is located. Cas will lower the cage from the chains where it is suspended. Sammy and Dean will try and convince the devil to give over a vial of his blood and if that doesn’t work, Cas will force him in any way necessary. As much as Cas hates killing his brothers and sisters, he voiced that he won’t hesitate to try kill Lucifer if he has to.

They would have come up with a better plan, but as they were talking about the lower reaches of hell, Sammy glanced over at Dean, only to see an unfocused, far off look draped across his face and hellfire in his eyes. Needless to say, he ended the discussion quickly after that.

 

Nearing 1:15 in the morning, everyone shuffles into their rooms to catch what little sleep they can.

Dean looks as Cas, bleary eyed, in his doorway. “You comin Cas?” The angel embraces him and buries his face in Dean’s shoulder, sighing loudly. “I’ll try to be up later. I need to speak with Crowley about the plan.” Dean nods and kisses Cas goodnight, before stepping into his room and closing the door.

 

Dean flops down into his bed as he hears Cas’ wings whisk him away. He stares at the ceiling, suppressed memories of hellfire rising to the surface. Dean turns onto his stomach and buries his face in his pillow in attempt to push the visions away. He knows he’s failing when he feels warm liquid drip down his cheek.

  


Around 3 in the morning, everyone is awoken by a blood curtling scream.

 

They step out of their rooms, listening intently and confused. The scream lasted for just a second... but wait, was there a scream? Or was it just a dream...

They stand there for a moment, exchanging glances of confusion.

Sam’s eyes widen when he realizes someone is missing. “ _Dean_ …” he breathes as he races to Dean’s room, the others following closely behind.

 

Sam bursts into Dean’s room. The light from the hallway peeks through the doorway, falling on the bed. “Dean?”

The bed is empty.

Shaky breaths sound from the darkness to the left of the bed and Sam turns on the light.

 

Dean is cowering in the corner, knees tucked over his chest, sweat pooling and dripping off of him. His pajama pants are sticking to his skin in an uncomfortable, constricting way. His body is shaking as he tries to take in shallow breaths. His eyes are glossy and dull, yet bright with hellfire, staring at the ground in fear.

“Dean!” Sam yells. He tries to reach his brother, to comfort him, but a large hand stops him. He looks back at Sammy. “Don’t…” Sammy whispers, face full of worry, “I’ll take care of this.” “But I’m his _brother!_ ” Sam pleads. “So am I. Your Dean hasn’t been through this kind of stuff yet. He doesn’t even _remember_ this yet.”

Sam glances back at his brother. Dean continues to stare, seemingly unaware of the others’ presence. He looks at Sammy and nods. Sammy steps inside and closes the door, leaving the others in the hallway without so much as an explanation.

 

Sammy slowly walks toward his brother, as not to scare him. “Dean?” he calls quietly. Dean doesn’t look away from the floor. Sammy kneels down in front of him. “ _Dean_. Please look at me.” His brother’s pale face lifts and his eyes meet Sammy’s in an unrecognizable emotion. “Cas…” he mumbles before dropping forehead on his knees.

 

Sammy watches his brother for a moment longer before standing up, opening the door, and stepping out. He closes the door again quietly.

He turns and nearly runs into Sam, who is impatiently waiting for any sort of news. Sammy glances at him briefly as he prays, “Cas. It’s Dean.”

Cas appears beside him not a second later. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“It’s happening again…” Sammy replies with no further explanation, but with the knowledge they share, it isn’t needed.  
Cas moves toward the door, but Sammy stops him. Leaning in, he whispers, “It’s worse than before…”

Cas’ eyes go wide with worry as he slinks inside the door, closing it with a soft _click_.

 

Sam turns to himself. “What’s happening? What’s wrong with Dean?” Sammy sighs as ushers the other three into the kitchen. When Henry asked why they were heading there, he replied, “This is not a conversation to be had sober…”

 

With hard liquor in hand, Sammy begins explaining.

The story begins with Dean, fresh outta hell. Sure, Dean remembered hell, but it was fuzzy. A glimpse of a knife here. A flash of some blood there. Nothing that would bother him too much. And with Cas always around, the memories of hell stayed at bay.

But after the first apocalypse was averted and Cas began to spend more time away, the memories began to resurface. Torture, screaming, cutting, bleeding, boiling, yelling, frying, skinning, _burning_. The horrifying memories came rushing back, flooding Dean’s senses.

It came to a point where every time Dean closed his eyes, the hellfire would burn bright and hurt him once again.

But then Cas came back and the hellish memories and nightmares faded into the back of Dean’s mind, left untouched for the most part.

 

Sam explained that the detailed talk about hell earlier left those thoughts to fester and grow in Dean’s mind. To resurface as they once were.

 

xx

 

Cas closes the door behind him with a _click_. He turns to Dean, taking in the shell-shocked, hell-fearing look on the hunter’s face.

Wordlessly, he crouches down, taking Dean’s hand in his own, and leads him to the bed. Dean lays down slowly. Cas moves as if to leave, but Dean’s iron grip on the trench coat’s sleeve keeps the angel from moving. “I need to get the light,” he whispers calmly.

Dean from Cas, to the lightswitch, and back again before releasing his grip on the angel. His glossy green eyes never leave Cas as he swiftly walks to the door, flicks off the light, and shuffles back to the bed.

 

Cas lays down on the bed next to Dean, slotting their bodies together like a jigsaw puzzle. He cards his fingers through Dean’s hair and pulls him close tightly. Dean breathes in deeply, savoring that safe smell of lilacs and honey, of _Cas._ "I'm here, Dean," he whispers softly, "I'm here."

The hunter soon falls into a peaceful sleep, safe and warm in the arms of his angel.

 

For now.

 

xx

 

It is nearing 6 in the morning and Dean and Cas have yet to leave Dean’s room.

Feeling worried, Sammy creeps to the door and listens. Hearing nothing, he slowly opens the door.

 

He finds Dean and Cas curled around each other, sleeping soundly. Dean’s face is buried in Cas’ chest, breathing in the soft smell of lilacs and honey with his arm wrapped around his angel. Cas’ knees are snuggled up to Dean’s stomach, his head resting on his hunter's shoulder and his fingers still intertwined with Dean’s close to his heart.

  
Sammy closes the door and smiles softly, just for a moment, because he knows the day ahead of them will be a long, hard road.


	20. Snoring

Snoring.

Dean comes to his senses and hears  _ snoring _ . He opens his eyes slowly, fuzzy images becoming clear. 

Feeling the rise and fall of his arm, he realizes he's holding something. Or rather, some _ one _ . Dean turns and blinks the person next to him into focus to see Cas, a mighty warrior of heaven, drooling on his pillow. Cas vibrates subtly as he inhales and exhales, snoring softly in Dean’s ear. 

Dean snuggles in closer, desperate for even the  _ tiniest  _ bit more of peace after last night’s events. 

He shivers, recalling the horrid memories. 

Cas stirs. Dean looks back at him to see Cas squinting at him, eyes slowly adjusting to make out the shape of Dean’s face. 

“Hey,” Dean says quietly, a small smile of content displayed across his face. Cas returns the smile and replies, “Hello Dean.”

 

Bobby found a case involving a couple of wendigos up in northern Washington. Needing to take a breather after the revelation of facts from the night before, Henry decides to join him as well. 

Bobby tries to get Sam to go, but he is determined to help the others in any way that he can, so he is left behind as Bobby and Henry say their goodbyes. 

 

Dean and Cas shuffle to the kitchen, bumping shoulders while sharing each other's personal space. 

Sammy and Sam are fervently discussing details of the plan over a cup, or ten, of coffee. Crowley is attempting to get Castiel to tell him what the spell is for. 

“I cannot tell you,” Castiel stars firmly. “Can't? Or won't?” Crowley prods. 

Standing next to Dean in the doorway, unnoticed, Cas clears his throat. He glares threateningly at Crowley, who puts up his hands in mock surrender. 

Both Sams straighten up, pausing their conversation to watch Dean with concern. Dean shifts uncomfortably under their gazes, refusing to make eye contact.

“How are you feeling, Dean?” Sam asks, worry lacing his voice.

Dean Dean cracks a pained smile, “Never better…”

Castiel cocks his head, “That is a lie. You clearly have not been in such mental and emotional turmoil in many years.”

Dean shifts behind Cas, attempting to hide how red his face was becoming.

Castiel turns to Crowley and whispers, “Did… Did I say something wrong?” Crowley sighs and shakes his head in annoyance.

  
  


After an awkward breakfast and Sam convincing Sammy to let him come along, everyone heads off to their rooms to pack provisions. 

 

Dean checks the bullets in his handgun. They’re handmade; Silver casing infused with iron and filled with salt and holy water. Seeing as all the bullets are accounted for, he slides the clip back into the gun and tucks it in the back of his pants.

Dean’s vision blurs for a moment. He winces slightly, shaking his head and rubbing his temple. The constant pounding of his memories of hell have been giving him a killer headache.

A quiet knock shakes him from his thoughts. “Dean?”

He turns to the door, blinking to try and get the figure to focus. Failing, he judges the fuzzy height of the person in the doorway and says, “Sammy? What’s up?”

Sammy notices the way Dean keeps blinking as if he can’t see something. “Are you okay?” 

Dean rubs his eyes, “Yeah, yeah. Just got something in my eye.” 

He lies.

“Oh. Well, I wanted to talk to you.” 

“Alright, shoot.” 

“Well, I was thinking-” 

“That can’t be good.” 

Sammy makes a bitch face, but Dean doesn’t react, as he can’t see it. 

“I was  _ thinking _ that since Sam is coming on the mission… maybe you should stay here. Till, ya know, you get better.” 

Dean turns back to his bed, grabbing the shiny thing, which thankfully is his knife, and tucks it into its sheath in his jacket. “I’m  _ fine _ , Sam. I’m going. End of discussion.” Dean turns and stomps out the door, just missing smashing into the doorframe. 

Sammy sighs as he watches his brother go. He can tell Dean is hurt, but Dean, being the person that he is, won’t let anyone help him.

 

Dean walks up to the two blurry tan-coated figures standing next to each other talking to a black-dressed figure with a british accent. 

Usually, Dean can glance up at Cas’ temple to see if his scar is there at tells him if he is Cas. This time, Dean takes his chances and stands next to the Castiel on the left. To Dean’s relief, the angel standing next to him grabs his hand. 

_ Cas _ .

“Now then. If Samantha 1 and 2 are ready, let’s go,” Crowley says with, what Dean practically  _hears_ , a smirk.


	21. Not Yet Beyond Redemption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to post! This chapter was really difficult to write. It was hard to find the right way to introduce everyone to Lucifer. It may not be the best, but it's the only way I could make it work.
> 
> Also, if anyone finds any mistakes that don't match up in the story, PLEASE tell me!! I've been writing this for over 4 months and I get a little fuzzy on the details sometimes.
> 
> Hope you like it :)

As the group makes their way to the garage, Dean pulls Sammy aside.

“Hey, why don’t you drive, okay?”

Sammy stares at him in shocked disbelief. “You want me to what?”

Dean shoves the impala’s keys at him. “It’s not that crazy, Sammy. You drive all the time,” he says with a shrug as he starts walking to the impala.

“Yeah!” Sammy calls to him, “When you’re practically _dead!_ What’s going on?”

“Just _drive_ , bitch.”

“Jerk,” he breathes before climbing into the driver's seat.

 

Sammy, Cas, and Dean are sharing the front seat, while Crowley is squished between Castiel and Sam in the back. After a few minutes of speeding down the road to their destination, a warehouse, Sam finally asks,“Why didn’t we take two cars?”

“What are you talking about? This is fine,” Dean retorts.

“I’m getting _smothered_ back here!” Crowley yells.

“Oh. I didn’t realize-”

“I am quite warm, myself. I am not sure if I should be producing such a copious amount of liquid,” Castiel adds.

“Castiel, you’re sweating. It’s normal,” Sammy answers him

“How do you not realize it’s crowded in here?” Sam snorts, “Cas is practically sitting on you. You _must’ve_ noticed that by now.”

When Dean doesn’t respond right away, Sammy glances away from the road over at him. Dean’s fingers are intertwined with Cas’, his thumb brushing over the angel’s knuckles. Sammy quickly looks back to the road, not wanting to interrupt their ‘moment’.

“It’s fine,” Dean says quietly.

 

Every time the impala would go over a bump, Dean winced. The memories, they _hurt_ him. Mentally, emotionally, _physically_. He would have asked Cas to help him, but Cas is in the process of resurrecting his dead brother and Dean knows how that is, so he chose to leave Cas out if it.

 

When the impala finally rumbles to a stop, Dean is about to throw up. The group piles out of the car in front of a giant grey smudge. Well, to Dean anyway.

“This rundown warehouse is a door to _hell?”_ Sam gawks and turns to Crowley, “You should really raise your standards.”

Crowley glares at the younger Winchester.

The group makes their way to the warehouse. Once inside, Dean can’t take it any longer.

He lies.

“Shit. I forgot my gun. I’ll be right back,” he calls as he runs out the door.

Once outside and away from Sammy’s prying eyes, Dean bolts to the treeline where he proceeds to throw up.  

He coughs and sputters for a moment before straightening up. He inhales deeply, exhales, and then wipes his mouth. Even through his blurry vision, Dean can see that his hand comes away bloody.

He quickly wipes the blood off on the inside of his shirt and walks back to join the others, who are waiting patiently in front of a large, metal wall. Crowley snaps his fingers and the metal slab implodes. A black void is left in it’s wake. One by one, they jump into the abyss.

 

Once they’re in hell, Dean’s almost glad he can’t see.

The all too familiar screams of agony fill his ears while the blurred glow of pure hellfire reflects all around him.

He feels disoriented by it all and falls to his knees, breathing heavily. He feels a trickling sensation drip out of his nose, so he wipes it away quickly, _knowing_ that it is blood.

“You okay, Dean?” Sammy asks suspiciously as Sam helps him up.

“Yeah,” he replies, “Rough landing. That’s all.” He barely hides his wince when Sam pats him on the back.

 

They walk one by one through the sweltering, winding corridors. The King of Hell, a falling angel, a boy with demon blood coursing through his veins, a man with too much worry for his brother, a fallen angel, and a man with a problem far bigger than he realizes.

 

During the trek through hell, Dean stays as close to Cas as he possibly can. Not just because he is terrified out of his mind, but also because now, he can barely see a few feet in front of him.

 

Dean had packed a bottle of painkillers in his pocket, just in case his headaches became too unbearable. But now the empty bottle is tossed over Dean’s shoulder, melting in the fire around him.

 _‘I shouldn’t have come,’_ Dean thinks to himself as he struggles to see the group in front of him. He’s about to ask Cas to bring him back when he remembers the reason he came along in the first place. To help the others, especially Sammy.

 

The group finally stops outside a large, thick, metal door. “This is as far as I go,” Crowley announces, “When you get inside, go right and then-” “We’ve been here before,” Cas interrupts him and opens the door to go lower Lucifer’s cage.

Crowley stares after him and turns to Sammy and Dean with an incredulous look. _“You’ve been inside the vault that leads to Lucifer’s cage?!”_ he shouts.

Slapping on his cocky mask, Dean pats Crowley on his shoulder, “Buddy, we’ve been _in_ the cage.” Dean walks into the vault, followed by Sammy, who gives an uneasy smile to Crowley. Sam and Castiel exchange concerned glances and rush after the brothers.

 

They stop in the doorway, just above the staircase that leads down to the cage. Cas is already there. His hand is extended upwards, eyes glowing that celestial blue, chanting something in enochian.

After a few moments of seemingly nothing, Sam gasps. The others follow his line of sight up and up and up… and they see it.

Lucifer’s cage, that hellish spiked box, is seemingly floating slowly down from the sky.

When it is but a few feet from the ground, Cas releases his hold on it, causing it to drop. It slams into the ground, vibrations sent all throughout hell. And for the first time in forever…

 

Hell is silent.

 

Watching, waiting, listening. The silence is deafening.

In this timeline, Lucifer has not been disturbed since the beginning of time, the dawn of man, since _God_ left. Anything could happen…

 

“Well wouldja look at that,” came an all too familiar sarcastic voice, “I’ve got visitors!”

Red, glowing eyes peer at them through the small holes in the walls of the cage, and fingers breach through, making themselves known.

Cas waves his hand, causing the front wall of the cage to become invisible.

“Welcome to Casa de Satan: where the fire is bright and the screams never end,” he smiles evilly, looking closely at each person as if trying reading their souls.

 

After a few moments, the devil frowns, obviously frustrated. “I can’t seem to read your souls…”

“I have put up a block, preventing you from doing so,” Cas answers him.

“But _whyyyyyyyy_ ?” Lucifer whines and Cas answers with something about how he ‘can’t know the exact identity of some of the people involved’ _blah blah blah_. Lucifer rubs his hand down his face. “Boring!” he yells, cutting off Cas’ explanation, “Now tell me who you are and what you want, or you can see yourselves out.”

The group stood there silently, watching him closely.

“Give me _names,_ people! Come on!” he claps once, then rubs his hands together as if warming them up.

Putting on a brave face to show the others that he came here to help, Sam steps forward. “I’m Sam. This is Sammy,” he motions to the almost-identical man beside him, “That’s Dean.” Lucifer looks closely at Dean, taking note of the shakiness, the far off look, and the blood Dean had just wiped away from his nose. Sam continues, “That’s Cas, next to Dean, and this is Castiel,” he points to the man on the other side of him.

 _That name_ … Lucifer’s attention is torn from Dean as he stares at Castiel.

“Castiel?” he asks tentatively.

“Hello brother…” Castiel responds.

“You… look good. From what I can _see_ anyway,” he says with an echo of a smile.

Having never seen his brother act anything but evilly, Cas lowers the shield slightly, allowing Lucifer a moment to see Castiel’s wings.

Lucifer looks him up and down, lips curling up slightly. “Last time I saw you, you were nothing more than a little fledgeling. Now look at you. Strapped on your big-boy wings, I see.”

Dean decides he can’t take this weird ‘loving brother’ routine. “Okay, what the hell?” Lucifer breaks eye contact to stare at Dean strangely as if to ask him what he means. “Aren’t you supposed to be… not nice?”

Lucifer smiles sadly, looking down. “They all say that, don’t they…” he conveys quietly, “The angels and demons. They say I am nothing, but the devil, the bringer of darkness, the one to went against God, the one who was _evil_ ,” he sighs, walking around the cage, “They speak of me as if the Morning Star never existed, as if I was never the most beautiful angel in existence…” he chuckles, “You disagree with God once… And now look at me,” he spreads his arms, motioning to the cage around him, “Punished for just having my own opinion. That is what he gave us, you know… Free will. But _no_ ,” he soulful look leaves his eyes, replaced by a deep hatred, “Instead of teaching his son, he throws him in a cage to _rot_ for all eternity.” Lucifer punches the cage in anger, sending shockwaves through hell. Everyone is knocked over flat on their backs from the sheer power of the shockwaves. “Get out,” he states, turning away from the others and retreating to the far corner of his cage.

“Brother,” Cas pleads, “We need your help. _Please.”_

Lucifer turns quickly, rushing to the front of the cage, fire in his eyes, “And _why_ would I help _you?_ ”

Cas walks to the front of the cage and puts his open palm against the invisible wall. “If you care about your family anymore, you will help us.”

Lucifer snorts, rolling his eyes, “Who the hell would I care about in our god forsaken family?”

“Gabriel.”

 

Lucifer’s face immediately changes from angered to concerned. Every angel loved Gabriel. He took care of all the fledgelings, taught them how to be angels. After he disappeared, the angels hated him for leaving them. Instead of thinking that the brother who raised them just abandoned them, they chose to believe that he was simply dead. It was easier that way. Lucifer fell before Gabriel disappeared, so he never had that hatred for him.

“What happened to Gabriel?”

“He’s _dead_.”

Sammy watched as a spark shattered in the devil’s eyes.

“What can _I_ do?” he asked, voice slightly shaky, “I’m stuck inside this stupid cage.”

“There’s a spell,” Cas begins, “It calls for an apple from the Tree of Life, Blood of the First of the Fallen, Waters of the Great Flood, an Archangel’s Grace, and power from God. All we need is the blood.”

“If all you need is the blood… then, does that mean that Father has returned?”

“He has not. It is… a long story for another time.”

Lucifer sighs and plops to the floor of the cage, legs criss-crossed. “I hate to break it to you Cassie, but the Blood of the First of the Fallen isn’t _just_ my blood. The First of the Fallen is the first of the fallen of first species God made. As angels and leviathan were made at the same time, you will need blood from us both.”

“Goddammit. Not again…” Dean breathes, slinking to the floor as well. Cas walks over to him, rubbing his shoulder to comfort him. Lucifer, as well as Sam and Castiel, gives Sammy a questioning look. He brushes it off as goes to help his brother up.

“Dean, you don’t have to go. I’ll go.”

“No, Sammy. Cas and I? We were there for a whole year. We know the ins-and-outs. We can do it.”

Sammy nods, knowing he won’t be able to change Dean’s mind.

 

Sam cautiously hands Lucifer a glass vial through the cage. Lucifer opens it, bites his hand, and squeezes his fist, filling the vial with blood, and passes it back through.

They turn to leave, when Lucifer interrupts. “Castiel? If this works,” he clears his throat, “ _When_ this works, do you mind sending Gabriel down here? I could use a little company…”

“Consider it done.”

 

The group makes their way through the vault. “Hey Cas?” Sammy asks, “How come Lucifer is nice...ish in this timeline, but was evil in ours?”

“I believe that Lucifer has always been this way. My thought is that since he was forced to go through ‘God’s plan’ to kill Michael in our timeline, it pushed him over the edge of redemption. Here, at least, he has a chance to return to his former glory.”

 

Crowley nearly has a heart attack when he spots the group exit the vault. “ _How the bloody hell are you alive?”_

“Despite what others think, Lucifer cares. It was just the matter of expressing the need to save what he cares about,” Castiel answers him.

“Bollocks… Well, did you get the blood?”

Sam hands the red filled vial to Castiel, who has been in charge of the ingredients. “Yes we did.”

 

Crowley begins to lead Dean and Cas out, but Sammy, Sam, and Castiel hang back.

“You comin or what?” Dean calls to them.

“Perhaps it would be best for us to stay behind,” Castiel announces.  
Before Dean can speak against it, Sam speaks out, “There might be a chance to make Lucifer like he was before. If he gets as bad as you’ve talked about, and we have the chance to make him good, I say we take that chance.”

“They’re right Dean,” Sammy adds, “We’ll stay here to help him.”

“No way, Sammy. I’m _not_ leaving you down here.”

“I’ll be fine. If things get bad, Castiel can bring Sam and I back home. And I have the demon knife. Besides, you need to get the blood from Purgatory.”

Cas lays a hand on Dean’s arm. “Dean…” he breathes. Dean sighs and rubs his eyes. “Fine! Fine. Just… be safe. All of you.”

“You as well,” Castiel replies.

Sammy nods at him before walking back into the vault, followed by Castiel and Sam.

Dean turns to Crowley with a sigh. “Get us home so we can get this over with.”


	22. Purgatory: Take 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An eerie quietness in a never ending forest.  
> Past the pain and the blood and the monsters, that’s all it is.  
> And it greets them like an old friend.
> 
> Until it doesn't.

Dean knows that Cas is suspicious of his health. It was one thing to let Sam drive. But Cas? That never happens. Ever. So when Dean handed the keys to Cas, the angel immediately knew something serious was wrong.

  
  


Cas pulls the impala into the bunker’s garage. He turns the key, shutting off the engine. The two of them momentarily lapse into silence. 

With a sigh, Cas turns to Dean, who is staring at the dashboard in front of him, refusing to meet the angel’s eyes.

“Dean.”

The hunter says nothing, eyes never straying from the dashboard.

“Dean-”

“It’s nothing, Cas.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just  _ drop _ it.”

“ _ No _ .”

Dean sighs, rubbing his temple. He turns to Cas and does what he  _ knows _ he will regret... 

He lies.

“Well… It’s my eyes,” he says, scratching absently at his neck, “I think I need glasses or something."

Cas stares at him in utter disbelief.

“Dean…” he finally says, “I’m an  _ angel _ . All you have to do is ask me to heal you.” With this, Cas reaches over and presses two fingers to Dean’s forehead. The hunter closes his eyes and the familiar warmth of Cas’ grace spreads through him, soothing and comforting him. 

Dean opens his eyes, surprised to find his vision mostly clear. There’s a small blur, but at least he can see.  _ ‘It’ll have to do until after purgatory,’ _ he thinks. He smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Thanks Cas.”

  
  


Dean and Cas lay their weapons out on a table in the library. 

A machete.

A small knife.

An angel blade.

A gun.

It may not be much, but it will have to do, as they will have to be able to run with it. Dean decided it would be easier to have the weapons on their person, and not in a duffel bag, for better access.

Dean tucks the machete into its sheath on his belt and the knife goes in the inside of his jacket. Cas takes his angel blade and the gun, tucking them into his trench coat. The gun can’t be used in Purgatory because the loud sound will attract monsters, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

  
  


Cas snaps his fingers and the pair find themselves in the alleyway where Sam went to Purgatory with the demon taxi driver all those years ago, or from now, or whatever.  _ (Time travel is confusing, Cas! Don’t try and explain it to me!) _

“It will be easiest to enter Purgatory from this area,” Cas explains, “The veil is thinner here, making the doorway easier to get through.” 

He takes Dean’s hand in his own. Intertwining their fingers, they prepare themselves to pass through the veil. Cas extends his other hands toward the door painted on the graffiti filled wall. The angel’s eyes begin glowing as he chants in enochian.

The ground abruptly begins rumbling around them and the door glows.  Cas looks at Dean, a small smile gracing his lips as he watches Dean seem to hold onto him for dear life and support in the quake.

 

Suddenly, the ground shifts forward underneath their feet causing them to fall back, sucking them through the door. 

But they never land. 

The angel and his hunter yell as they fall into the inky blackness of unconsciousness.

  
  


Dean sits up with a jolt, gasping for breath. He blinks his eyes quickly, bringing everything  _ mostly _ into focus. 

Trees.

Just… Trees.

He feels a tickling sensation and wipes his nose. He nearly faints when he sees how much blood is left on his hand. A memory from hell begins to surface,  _ blood… so much blood _ , but he pushes it down.  _ ‘Can’t let it get to me. Not here…’ _ he thinks.

After a few moments of listening to his breathing to calm him down, he realizes just that.  _ His _ breathing. He looks around frantically, searching for any sign of the familiar tan trench coat he’s grown to love. 

“ _ Cas! _ ” he whispers, voice raspy. Dean tries to stand, but fails and falls to the ground, wincing as dizziness overpowers him. He groans and rubs his head as more blood drips from his nose, as well as his ears.

A branch cracks. 

Dean straightens up and holds his breath. As quietly as he can, he backs against a large oak tree, shielding him from the view of most directions. Pulling out his knife, he listens intently.

 

“Well what do we have here,” a grating voice questions from the other side of the tree, “Hey Rosco, come take a look at this!” The sound of footsteps, probably from Rosco, follows the voice. 

“Damn, Mike. What is that thing?” a gruff voice replies.

“Not sure.” 

Dean holds his knife closer to his chest while he listens uncertainly to the two monsters shuffling around a small distance away from the tree.

“Mike! The thing’s still breathin’!”

“Is it unconscious or somethin’?”

“I guess.”

“Damn, Rosco. We gonna be eatin’ good tonight!”

“Get a decent coat out of it too. Though, I don’t think trench coats are that safe around here. Gettin’ snagged on shit and all that.”

_ ‘Cas...’ _ Dean thinks. He tries to get up, but the uneven weight of the heavy machete and his dizziness causes him to lose his balance and fall back against the tree with a thud. He freezes, eyes wide, and listens. 

“Mike, was that you?”

“No, you idiot. I’m sittin’ right here. How the hell would I have made a sound over there if I’m over here?”

“I dunno...”

“God, you’re an idiot, Rosco. Just… go check.”

Dean quickly works to remove the machete from his belt, footsteps growing closer. He lays the weapon against the tree beside him. Realizing that there’s nowhere to run, Dean looks up.

 

Rosco rounds the tree where the heard the noise. He scratches his head, confused. 

“Did ya find anything?” Mike calls from where he is beside Cas. He is standing partially over him as if protecting his meal.

Mike watches as Rosco disappears behind the large tree. When he reappears, he’s holding a long, silver object.

Mike’s eyes go wide. “Is that-”

“A machete? Yeah.”

“How?”

“I dunno. It was just layin’ there.”

“Huh…” Silence falls over the two monsters. “Well, you better bring it over here. It’s gonna be easy to kill this thing with that.”

 

xx 

 

Dean listened to the conversation from the tree. At the last second, Dean frantically pulled himself up onto a tree branch above him, laying on it on his stomach. He breathed out a sigh of relief, but sucked it back in when he realized he forgot something, it’s blurry shape reflecting in the sun. 

Dean held his breath as the monster rounded the tree. It looked down and stared at the machete, glistening in the sunlight. It glanced around, looking for its owner, but shrugged and picked it up. 

The branch Dean was on was no more than a foot above the monster’s head. Luckily, the monster appeared to be bone dead stupid and didn’t look up.

Dean wiped his nose and closed his eyes, listening to the two monsters converse once more. 

 

xx 

 

“...Well, you better bring it over here. It’s gonna be easier to kill this thing with that.” Upon hearing this, Dean nearly falls out of the tree. He shuts his eyes and his arms flail, latching onto the tree branch, now above him. 

When he reopens his eyes, he finds that he is hanging from the branch like a sloth. He quickly and quietly lowers himself to the ground. 

Glancing around the tree, Dean pales.

Cas is unconscious on his stomach, covered in blood and dirt. His trench coat is torn and frayed. Trails of dried blood run out of Cas’ ears, nose, and mouth and his skin is littered with cuts and bruises. 

The two monsters are standing over Cas, deciding the best way to “get this done”.

Composing himself as much as he can, Dean grips his knife tight in his shaky hands and marches, as well as he can, around the tree. 

_ “Hey asshats!” _ he growls, causing the monsters to jump at the sudden noise, “Don’t you  _ dare _ touch him.”

Rosco begins to step back, but Mike steps forward. There’s a curious, yet cautious, glint in his eyes. 

He looks Dean up and down, taking in the clean clothes, bloodied face, and slightly not-quite-there eyes. He takes in a deep breath, taking in Dean’s scent. 

Mike’s eyes become red with hunger as he hisses. “You're a  _ human _ !”

Rosco’s eyes turn red as well upon hearing the news. “Haven't had a human in a few centuries… this is gonna be good!”

Rosco lunges at Dean, claws and teeth heading in the direction of his throat. “Damn vamps,” Dean mutters as he sidesteps it, mostly, causing it to smash into the tree behind him, but trips in the process Dean. 

While the vamp is down and disoriented, Dean uses the momentum from his fall to plummet his knife into the creature's neck. 

Rosco yells loudly, but soon falls silent. Dean yanks out the knife begins working on severing the head completely. 

A few seconds later, Rosco’s head tumbles to the ground and into a pile of leaves. 

Dean breathes heavily, shutting his eyes as tight as possible, attempting to overcome the wave of nausea brought on by the act. He lets the blood run freely from his nose and ears.  _ ‘Not like it’s gonna stop anyway…’ _

Dean groans as he opens his eyes. The blurred figure of Mike is still standing over Cas, machete in hand. He gasps as Mike raises the machete, ready to strike.

  
Mike glances over at the human as the quiet gasp breaks through the silence of the forest. His grip falters upon seeing the look of pure, heartbroken terror. 

Seeing Mike falter, he looks at Cas. The angel, looking helpless and alone, calls something from inside Dean. He stands up, swiftly and smoothly, as the newfound power within him breaks free. He charges at Mike with full force. 

 

Dean feels his ribs shatter underneath a punch from Mike, but he rages on. He stabs and lashes out at the vamp.

The forgotten machete slices through Dean’s right bicep. Blood floods down his arm, but Dean pays no notice to it.

He pushes Mike to the ground, who yelps when a stick impales his back, severing his spinal cord.

With dilated pupils, Dean grips his small knife with two fists and yells as he brings it down on the vamp’s throat. 

A quiet gurgle and crack later, Mike’s head joins Rosco’s, forgotten in a pile of rotting leaves.

 

Dean, kneeling with his hands on the ground in front of him for support, begins coughing wildly, blood splattering on the dirt. 

The knife and machete lay a few feet away, abandoned

He regains his composure long enough to face Cas, who is deathly still.

“ _ Cas _ ,” he croaks, voice cracking slightly as he breathes heavily. 

He slowly makes his way over to the angel, cracked ribs grinding menacingly in his ears. His vision begins to become dark, and dizziness overtakes him. 

Dean collapses next to Cas, wrapping his arm, still gushing blood, around the angel. 

He faintly hears new footsteps closing in on the two of them, but is unable to move.

Whether it is blood loss, shock, or exhaustion, Dean passes out, unable to defend himself or his angel from the threat walking towards them.


	23. Familiar Blurry Figures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like it :) it took a while to write.

It’s warm at the edge of Dean’s consciousness.  _ Peaceful _ , almost. As the darkness in his mind fades to gray, light slowly seeping in, there’s a faint shuffling. 

Dean breathes in, expecting to smell coffee that Sam brought into their motel room from the diner next door, but it only left with the distinct metallic tang of blood.

 

Dean shoots up, wide eyed and breathing heavily. He’s in  _ Purgatory _ , not a shitty motel room with Sam. He groans as cracked ribs scrape about inside him. Putting a hand over the sore gash in his arm, he feels fabric of some sort, wrapped around like a bandage. 

Dean tries to bring his surroundings into focus, rubbing his eyes and blinking frantically. When this fails, he scoots back against a cool, stone wall. He’s in a cave.

 

“Cas?” he calls into the dark, “Where are you, man?”

He’s weaponless, injured, can’t see, and Cas is missing.  _ ‘This is hopeless…’ _

A figure appears at the entrance of the cave. Dean shrinks back, bringing his knees to his chest in an attempt to make himself small enough as to not be seen.

It doesn’t work.

The blurry figure enters the cave and walks toward him. Dean shivers, fear creeping up the back of his neck. 

 

“I assume that he’s with you…?” a feminine voice says. It sounds vaguely familiar, but Dean can’t quite place it. He stares at the blurred monster standing before him, trying, and failing, to figure out who she is.

“...Who?” he finally asks.

“Trench coat dude,” she replies.

Dean’s breath hitches and he begins to panic. “What have you done to him?!”

“Chill, Dean.” 

He shivers.  _ ‘It knows who I am…’ _

“He’s literally  _ right _ in front of you.”

Cautiously, Dean reaches in front of him, groping the cool stone around him. 

After a moment of feeling around, the girl asks, “Are you…  _ blind _ or something?”

Dean doesn’t answer. When he feels Cas’ head of black hair, he chokes out a sob. Cas feels cold.

His fingers trail through smooth black hair, down the soft, but broken, skin of Cas’ face, and onto his neck.    
There’s a pulse. 

Despite the grueling protest from his ribs and arm, Dean reaches underneath Cas’ arms and hauls him onto his lap. He strokes his hand through his angel’s fluffy hair, holding him close.

 

When the monster clears her throat and takes a step forward, Dean holds Cas protectively, shielding him from possible attack.

“Dean?” she asks, “Can you see who I am?”

Dean looks up slowly. All he sees is a dark, blurred figure. He squints, but it’s no use. He shakes his head.

The monster sighs and walks a few feet away to the other side of the cave. Sitting down against the wall, she says, “Do you remember that vampire? The one you saved from that hunter? What was his name... Gordon?”

Dean stares at the ground, thinking for a moment before speaking in the general direction of the vampire. “Lenore?”

The vamp chuckles. “Glad to know you didn’t completely forget me.”

“What happened to you?”

Lenore makes a clicking sound with her mouth before she sighs once more, “Had a run in with a hunter. He wasn’t as nice as you and Sam. Didn’t have any mercy, even though I’d never had a drop of human blood before.”

Dean nods in understanding and sympathy, as she is the most human of any monster he has met. 

 

Lenore stands up and walks over to the hunter. Dean pulls Cas tight, refusing to let her go anywhere near him. 

“Woah woah woah. Easy tiger,” she puts her hands up in a show of peace, “I’m not gonna hurt you, Dean. I just have to check that nasty cut in your arm. Is that okay?”

Dean nods uncertainly and Lenore sits next to him. He winces as she peels the fabric away from the wound. Her cool fingers prod delicately, inspecting it. 

She re-ties the fabric so that it is tight, but not uncomfortable. “It doesn’t look infected. You’re pretty lucky, you know. Any deeper and a major artery would have been severed.”

Dean feels around Cas’ face, as he is unable to see it, and encounters numerous bumps and cuts.

Worriedly, he asks, “Is, uh, is Cas okay?”

“Yeah. I checked him out. He's got a couple cuts and bruises, but it's nothing serious.”

Dean sighs a breath of relief, carding his fingers through the angel’s hair once more. 

“So… Who is  _ Cas _ anyway?”

Dean stays silent for a moment. “He's a friend.”

Lenore observes the way Dean is cradling his “friend”. “Uh huh,” she states, “ _ Suuuure _ .”

Dean says nothing. 

“He's obviously not human, given that one of those nasty cuts on his face just healed in about 5 seconds. So what is he?”

Dean continues to stay silent. 

“Come on, Dean. You've gotta give me  _ something _ .”

 

When Lenore is about to give up, deep coughs shake the ‘man’ in Dean's lap into consciousness. 

“Cas?  _ Cas _ . It's okay. I'm here.” Dean rubs Cas’ back comfortingly as he coughs up blood. 

Lenore gasps, startled by the piercing blue eyes that blink open to look at her. 

“ _ Dean _ ,” the man’s low, gravelly voice says urgently, moving in front of the hunter to protect him, as Dean had done before. 

“ _ Cas _ ,” Dean groans as the angel unknowingly presses into his shattered ribs, “S-She's fine. Lenore is a friend.”

 

After hearing Dean groan in pain, Cas seems to forget about the vampire completely. 

“Dean,” he says, voice laced with concern, “You're hurt.” Cas reaches out with two fingers, healing Dean's ribs and arm. 

Lenore gasps, “What the  _ hell _ are you?!”

Shockingly blue eyes turn to her once more as his thundering voice speaks, “I am an angel of the lord.”

 

While Lenore stares at him in disbelief, Cas turns back to Dean with sorrowful eyes. “I'm sorry Dean. I didn't know going through the veil that way would cause you so much harm.”

Dean smiles softly, hugging his angel tight, “S’okay, Cas. I'm just worried about you.”

“I am fine. I “recharged my batteries” for the most part while unconscious.”

Lenore seems to notice Dean’s struggle with focusing his eyes on the air quotes Cas made with his hands. 

“Hey Dean?” She interrupts, “How many fingers am I holding up?”

Dean swallows hard as he stares at her blurry hand. “Um… 5?” 

Lenore lowers her 3 fingers. “Looks like you missed something there, angel boy.”

Cas turns to Dean, brows furrowed with determination, and touches Dean's forehead once more. 

The hunter tries to blink away the fuzziness, but shakes his head in defeat. 

“I-I don't understand. There's nothing physically wrong with your eyes. Or  _ anything _ for that matter. You are in perfect health.”

Apparently the universe is working against Dean, because at that moment, the now-familiar tickle returns as blood drips out of his nose and ears. 

Cas and Lenore gasp. 

_ “Dean?” _

“M’fine. Just a little… a little…” Dean struggles to find words to fill in the blanks, his head seemingly working against him. 

A sudden sharp pain pounds in Dean’s head. His hands grip his head tight, knees coming up to his chest as he grunts in pain. 

“ _ Dean!” _

The hunter can no longer hear anything, but the ferocious pounding inside his head. He grits his teeth to keep himself from screaming, as he frequently did in hell. If he screams here in Purgatory, they're all goners. 

 

He welcomes the sudden the warm, comforting grace of Cas with an open mind, as Cas sends him into the dark. 

 

xx 

 

Cas holds his broken hunter in his battered arms, rubbing his thumb over Dean’s cheek. 

He can't figure out what's wrong. Dean body is in perfect health. 

Cas sucks in a breath, realization dawning on his face. 

Dean’s  _ body _ is fine. 

Dean’s  _ soul _ on the other hand…

 

“What is it?” Lenore asks, seeing a panicked look on Cas’ face. 

“I-I need… I need…  _ Sigils _ . Yes sigils.” He feels around frantically for something in his coat.

“And  _ why _ is that?”

“I need to touch Dean’s soul in order to read it properly in his current state. Something is very wrong. And having one’s soul touched is extremely painful. It involves a lot of screaming, even while unconscious,” he continues searching, now around the cave, “I have to put up sigils to silence the screams from being heard or-”

“We’re dead. Gotcha. Now, uh, what are you looking for?”

“My sword. I must draw with my own blood for the sigils to function to their highest capacity.”

Lenore holds up Dean’s silver knife, which she picked up from the ground earlier. “Can’t you just use this?”

Cas sighs audibly, obviously annoyed. He walks over to her, takes the knife, and stabs himself in the hand. The wound closes almost immediately. 

“Now,” Cas puts his hands on Lenore’s shoulders, squeezing them tight and looking into her eyes with a deadly seriousness, “Whatever you do, do  _ not _ let Dean out of your sight. If anything happens to him,” he leans in close, their noses almost touching, “I. Will. End. You.”

With this, he walks over to Dean, kisses him on the forehead of where he is now curled on his side, and marches, limping slightly, out of the cave. 

 

xx 

 

Cas has been gone for a while looking for his missing angel blade. So when there’s a sound at the mouth of the cave, Lenore doesn’t turn around from where she is working on something to eat in the back of the cave, assuming it is him.

“He’s still alive and nothing happened,” she mutters, concentrating on the assorted roots in front of her. In Purgatory, is you didn’t kill to eat, you ate roots buried deep within the forest floor.

“More fun for me,” a female voice replies. 

Lenore whips around just in time to see a woman raise a large machete (much like the one Dean had) over Dean’s head, about to strike. 

“ _ Stop! _ ” Lenore yells, diving over Dean to protect him. The machete grazes her forearm, drawing blood. 

“What the  _ hell _ , Lenore?!” the woman yells, “I could have  _ killed _ you!”

“Maybe, but you  _ would _ have killed him.”

“ _ So? _ He’s food, isn’t he?”

 

Metal clattering on the stone ground sounds behind the two monsters. They turn to see Cas. 

The angel is covered in sweat, dirt, and blood. Dean’s forgotten machete now lays at his feet where it was dropped.

Cas looks to Lenore, who has a large cut across her arm, bleeding slowly. And then to the unknown monster, who is holding a purgatory weapon and standing over Dean. 

 

Rage and fear blaze in Cas’ eyes. His icy gaze glares at the… he looks closely…  _ werewolf _ . Definitely a werewolf. 

His newly found angel blade drops into his hand, his fist closing around it tightly, causing his knuckles to turn white.

 

Cas charges at the monster, running into her at full speed. A mess of limbs tumbles to the ground. 

“You will  _ not _ ,” Cas pins the werewolf under him, “Hurt,” he grabs her throat with his iron grip, “ _ Dean _ .” He raises his blade, ready to strike.

“Dean  _ Winchester _ ?” she crokes, trying to glance back over at the man crumpled on the ground.

Cas would have brushed this off, but the look of nostalgia caught in her eyes causes him to falter. 

He removes his hand so that she may speak, but keeps her pinned with his blade ready. “How do you know Dean?” he asks, suspecting something along the lines of  _ ‘that piece of shit killed me!’ _

“He and his brother tried to save me a long, long time ago.” Cas looks deep into her eyes and sees nothing but truth.

Hesitantly, Cas climbs off the werewolf and sits closely next to Dean, as to protect him if the need arises.

 

“Who are you?” Cas asks the werewolf.

“I’m Madison.”

Cas’ expression softs to one of compassion. “You’re the werewolf Sam tried to cure… He talked about you in some of his stories.”

Madison smiles sadly, reminiscing her time with Sam. 

Cas turns to Lenore, “What is she doing here?”

Lenore snorts, “Yeah, because I really dragged  _both_ of you here by myself. ” The angel recognizes that as sarcasm, so he doesn’t reply. Instead he looks down at his angel blade gripped in his hand. Sighing, he says, “Let’s begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm almost done with the next chapter. It should be up in the next few days.


	24. Grave News

Sam, Castiel, and Sammy sit cross-legged in a semicircle in front of the cage. Lucifer sits in front of the invisible wall the same way. 

So far, they have caught Lucifer up on what has happened on earth and in heaven since his fall. Crowley had even mustered up enough courage and joined them for a while, filling them in on hell’s dealings. 

 

Right now, Sammy is teaching Lucifer about technology. 

He pulled out his phone, which is from the future. Because of this, Sam is also extremely interested with wide eyes and intent ears. It's not everyday you get to see technology from the future.

Sam marvels at the touch screen, now hating his flip phone more than ever, when it suddenly drops to the ground, slipping through Sammy’s hands, and the screen shatters. 

 

It wasn't that the phone slipped out of his grasp. It literally fell  _ through _ his hands. 

Sammy gasps and stares at his hands in shock. He flickers in and out of existence, almost like a ghost. 

He closes his eyes and tightens his hands into fists upon realizing what this means. 

“W-What is that? What's happening?” Sam asks, concerned. 

Sammy sighs as Castiel explains. “He is beginning to disappear as his deadline approaches. His time is almost up.”

 

Lucifer understands that he doesn't know about everything in the world yet, and he understands that he has to be patient, but after a few minutes of silence and sorrowful glances, he's had enough. 

“That's it,” he cuts in, “Someone needs to keep Luci in the loop and explain to me what's going on.”

“Sammy is from the future,” Castiel starts, “But his timeline was destroyed, so God sent him here to help us. His timeline is supposed to be destroyed completely, so he will soon be destroyed as well.”

Lucifer looks at Sam, realization dawning on his features as he sees that he is Sammy's past self, not his brother, and then gazes back at Sammy with surprise and sadness. “I'm sorry bud. I wish there was more I could do for ya.”

Sammy chuckles, looking up at the archangel trapped in his cage. “You've done more for me than you can possibly imagine.”

“What do you mean?” Lucifer asks curiously. 

“Do you know who I am?” 

“Of course. You're...  _ Sammy _ . Duh,” he replies with an unsure chuckle, not actually knowing much about the man in front of him. 

“I'm much more than just Sammy,” he lets out a breath, “My name is Sam Winchester, and I am…  _ was _ ... your vessel.”

  
  


Lucifer stares at the floor in contemplation. After a few minutes, he looks up to meet Sam’s gaze. 

“I… I didn’t realize. But… What do you mean when you say I’ve done a lot for you? I have done  _ nothing _ but bitch to you about the cage and question literally  _ everything _ .”

“Like Castiel said, I’m from the future. And in the future, you were kinda a dick. More so than now, no offense. And…” he sighs, rubbing the back of his neck absently, “Sorry… This is hard to talk about…,” he takes a deep breath, “To end the apocalypse, I had to let you possess me and jump in the pit. The thing is, I didn't get out until a year and a half later, earth time, which was… too long down there. Just… anyway, after I got out, and still even now, I struggled with nightmares, memories, and hallucinations. But just being here with you, talking like friends and  _ not _ trying to kill me, really helps me cope with it all. So thank you.”

Lucifer smiles sadly. “I'm sorry I was such a dick. Glad I could help somewhat.”

“I feel bad for Dean, though,” Sammy continues, “I can talk it out with the one who tortured me and make amends of some sort. Dean's torturer is dead, so his memories and nightmares are even worse than mine. He just has to live with it and suffer. Well, not Dean of this time yet,  _ thank god _ . He still has a chance.  _ My _ Dean. He had a panic attack yesterday and we almost didn't come here, but he’s stubborn.” He chuckles bitterly.

“Wait. I'm confused,” Lucifer cuts in, “I thought you said  _ everything _ in your timeline was destroyed except for  _ you _ .”

“Yeah.”

“So… how is your brother alive?”

“He's not… technically. The Dean of this time had a soul complication and needed time in heaven for it to heal. My Dean died in my timeline and then Cas tried to explain something about how my Dean was in heaven... I don't know. It was confusing. But since Dean’s body from this time was empty of a soul, Cas let my Dean inhabit it until this time Dean gets better.”

Lucifer’s eyes go wide. “H-How long has your Dean been inside that body?”

“5 days, 10 hours, and 6 minutes,” Castiel replies, as punctual as ever. 

Lucifer rubs a hand down his face, visibly becoming uneasy. “Okay... Where is he? You have to return him to heaven, like,  _ yesterday _ .”

“Why?” All three ask. 

Lucifer stands up, pacing the walls of his cage. “A different soul, even if it is from the same person,  _ cannot  _ inhabit another body. It's not designed to be what way. A body shifts and changes with the soul. Dean’s body of now is not suitable to contain Dean’s soul from the future. Think of it as a lock and a key, Dean’s body as the lock and his soul as the key. You change the lock, then you need a new key. If you keep the lock the same, but use a different key, it won't work.”

“So… what will happen to him then?”

“A soul and a body support each other. One without the other equals death. Dean’s soul doesn't have his proper body, so his soul will slowly wither away and die, no longer existing anywhere. Essentially, in the void. That's why you  _ need _ to get him back to heaven  _ right now _ . He's already been in there too long.”

Sammy begins to panic. “What?” Lucifer asks calmly, seeing the distress, “Its simple. All you have to do is have Cas take him back.”

“It's  _ not _ simple!” Sammy yells, “Dean and Cas are in  _ Purgatory _ right now! They left yesterday after they left here!”

Everyone visibly pales. 

“All we can do then is hope they get back soon. Hopefully Dean hasn't developed any of the symptoms yet.”

“What are the symptoms?” Sam asks worriedly. 

“Uh…” Lucifer begins counting them off on his fingers, “Resurfacing memories, some to no vision, migraines, um, being really weak, and bleeding out of the nose, mouth, and ears.”

Sammy sinks to the floor, his head in his hands. 

“What is it?” Sam asks. 

“Dean’s  _ hell memories _ ! They’ve always taken the form of nightmares, but the ones yesterday were the worst one I’ve ever seen.  _ And _ Dean didn't drive.  _ Couldn't _ drive. His eyes, they, uh, were really unfocused and I saw him down an entire bottle of painkillers.”

“He was repeatedly wiping his nose as well on our trek here,” Castiel adds. 

“How much time do you think he has left…?” Sam asks gravely. 

Lucifer sighs, sliding down the wall into a sitting position. He looks to Sammy, who has unshed tears in his eyes and continues to flicker in and out of existence, with a sorrowful expression. “For  _ both _ of you, a day and a half, at the most…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please please PLEASE leave a comment on what you think so far. It's awesome to read what you all think. 
> 
> Thanks :)


	25. Gold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO POST!!! I was out of town this past week and didn't have access to my computer. Enjoy!!:)

Cas sets his angel blade aside. Shrugging off his trench coat, he folds it nicely as to not wrinkle it. Sam taught him that long ago. He loosens his tie and takes it off, setting it on the coat. As he begins to unbutton his shirt, Madison speaks up.

“Uh, not that I’m not all for a little partying, but what are you doing?”

“The spell for reading Dean’s soul and keeping it silent requires a sigil in my own blood. It is split into two halves; one half on the wall and the other half on myself. I need one of you to carve the one on my back, as my chest has already been used and is scarred, which would render the sigil ineffective.” Cas pulls off his shirt and turns to the two to reveal the intricate scarring of the angel banishing sigil he used all those years ago. Lenore and Madison gasp at the sight of it, imagining the pain at how deep it was to have scarred in that way.

Ignoring their gasps, Cas picks up his blade. He drags it along his palm, slice a cut into so he can begin to paint the sigil on the cool, stone wall.

 

In the end, the sigil looks like many lines that crisscross to form the shapes of intricate enochian symbols inside of a circle. Turning, Cas holds his angel blade out to the girls. “Whoever has the steadiest hand must do this.”

Madison and Lenore exchange glances before Lenore steps forward, taking the blade. She was a nurse in her previous life, so it only made sense that she would have the steadiest hands of the two.

Cas faces the wall, puts his hands up on it for support, and says, “You must carve it _exactly_ as it is on the wall. You also can’t cut too deep, or my grace will drain out.”

Nodding, Lenore raises the blade to Cas’ back and begins drawing the circle.

 

Madison shrieks, causing Lenore to drop the blade. _“What the hell is that?!”_ Madison yells, pointing at the bright light coming from the cut Lenore just made.

“That’s my grace,” Cas winces in response, grating his teeth, “You cut too deep. Be _careful_.”

“What the fuck is grace?” she demands before Lenore can stop her.

“My grace is _me_. It's my being, essentially my soul.”

“What _are_ you?”

“I'll tell ya later,” Lenore replies for Cas, “Now just… let me finish.”

 

As Lenore slowly slices away at Cas’ back, he gasps and his eyes go wide as memories flash before them. The blade sparks at his grace, sending visions past the angel’s eyes.

They all involve _Dean._

Cas, Dean, and Sam: driving down a long since abandoned highway, laughing as Dean sings ‘Here I Go Again’ at the top of his lungs. Cas: watching from the doorway as Dean smashes a pie in Sam’s unsuspecting face while chanting that he is ‘the supreme prankster’. Dean and Cas: sniffling quietly on the couch while credits roll past on the tv as they commemorate the anniversary of Charlie’s death with a Star Wars movie marathon. She would have wanted it.

Thousands of memories filter through his eyes. Cas smiles bitterly, small tears falling from the pain of the blade and the wide range of emotions that resurface with their forgotten memories.

 

With minimal groans - _surprisingly_ \- from Cas, Madison finishes the sigil. It looks exactly the same as the one on the wall, but it has thin lines of colored grace peeking through the cuts.

“Why is your grace colored?” Madison asks, staring at the prominent colors of gold, red, lavender, and light blue swirling around inside the sigil.

“My grace occasionally reflects my emotions in the form of visible colors,” Cas replies, wiping the tears off his face, “What are the colors?”

“Gold, lavender, red, and light blue.”

Cas begins walking, but mostly stumbling, over to Dean.

“Red is pain, lavender is happiness, and light blue is sadness.”

“What’s gold?”

Cas smiles softly as he collapses by Dean’s side and breathing heavily. His grace is slowly leaking out, so he has to get this done quickly so it can get patched up. “Love.”

 

Cas places his palm on Dean’s forehead as to keep the hunter unconscious so he won’t feel as much of the pain. Taking a deep breath, he begins chanting enochian, causing the sigils to glow and activate.

The grace seeping through his back becomes brighter from the spell and he groans, holding back his screams.

Cas quietly finishes the spell and breathes out. Looking to the monsters, he mutters, “If I become unconscious, cover my back so my grace does not spill out completely.”

With forceful determination, Cas pushes his hand into Dean’s chest to read his soul.

 

Dean’s mouth is open in a silent scream. Lenore and Madison left the cave, unable to witness any of the silent pain.

The bright glow of Dean’s soul is enough to blind anyone, but Cas stays strong, pushing on, grace pulsing a rainbow of colors as he does so.

 

Cas gasps upon realizing the problem and pulls his hand out of Dean’s chest, falling onto his back with the force of it. He cries out and faints from the pain in his back and grace.

Lenore and Madison to return to see what the noise was, only to find Dean sleeping restlessly, covered in a thin layer of sweat, and Cas passed out on the ground, covered in dirt and blood.

  
Following the angel’s instructions, Lenore takes Cas’ button up shirt and ties it into a makeshift bandage, fastening it around him. Cas’ grace pools under the shirt until it is gradually pulled back in, leaving a cut that is forced to heal the slow, human way.

 

A few minutes later, the angel’s head snaps up, eyes scanning the dark cave for any kind of threat. Upon seeing that himself and his hunter were safe, Cas slowly lifted himself off the floor, wincing from the deep cuts twisting through his back. 

Looking down, he sees strips of fabric, his shirt, tied around his torso. He turns to Lenore, who is informing Madison of Cas’ species, and thanks her as makes his way over to Dean. 

 

Dean’s face shows discomfort while he sleeps. Making a ball of light, much like the one Cas used on Dean from this time in heaven, he pushed it through the hunter. 

“What’s that?” Madison asks, eyeing the orb of light curiously as it disappears into Dean’s torso.

“It's a ball of my grace. It will bind to Dean’s soul, healing him as much as it can.”

“As much as it  _ can _ ?” Lenore questions, “Can’t it heal everything?”

Cas looks at her gravely, eyes glossy with unshed tears. With a heavy heart, he says, “Dean's soul is dying. There’s not much I can do until I bring him back to heaven.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have midterms and finals (ugh) coming up so sorry in advance for the waiting


	26. A Militant Angel's Blazing Wrath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Petrichor (n.) 
> 
> the smell of earth after rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ****Re-read the previous chapter. I added a few things to the end.

It smells of petrichor and honey and lilacs.

There’s a feeling of complete relaxation and safety, as if tucked into an angel’s wings, cradled closely.

The feeling of _Cas._

But that is soon beaten back, vanquished by the ravaging darkness of his mind.

Dean subconsciously squeezes his angel, who is holding the sleeping hunter protectively against his chest.

Cas rubs slow, reassuring circles on the hunter’s back. Whether he’s reassuring Dean or himself, he’ll never know.

  


Dean stays in a deep, unfortunately not dreamless, sleep for about an hour. During that time, Cas questioned Lenore and Madison about leviathan. They told him there are boundaries. As long as monsters stay inside the boundaries set for them, the leviathan won’t bother them. Although, they do occasionally go on a hunt, capturing as many monsters as they can and torturing them for the sheer fun of it.

Then Cas begins to tell them what is wrong with Dean. That his soul is somehow dying and he doesn’t have much time left. If he can’t get Dean to heaven in time, he doesn’t know what will happen.

 

xx

 

Cas feels warm, liquid  spreading down his chest. He looks down, expecting blood to be dripping out of Dean’s nose. Cas is more shocked at what he sees than if it _were_ blood.

 

Dean’s eyes are open, staring at nothing in particular on the ground. He is fully awake and looks like he has been for a while. What Cas thought was blood, is actually _tears._ The silent drops streak tiny streams through the blood and dirt covering Dean’s face.

Cas can see that Dean knows he is watching him. Watching him _cry_. But Dean doesn’t make a move to wipe the moisture from his face.

Dean never cries, or tries his best not to. _Especially_ in front of others. To see Dean so raw and open crushes something inside Cas.

He reaches into Dean’s mind with his grace, only to be burned by hellfire.

Dean’s mind is a battleground. Half lit ablaze by memories of blood and destruction, and the other half cowering in fear, afraid of death, the void, and leaving Sammy to die and disappear on his own without Dean by his side.

 

 _‘I’ll fix this, Dean,’_ Cas vocalizes in Dean’s mind, slightly calming the stormy seas that reside there, _‘I promise.’_

Dean doesn’t acknowledge that he heard Cas, but sniffles and wipes the salty liquid from his face.

 

xx

 

After another hour of sitting on the floor of the cave, Dean tucked in his arms, Cas huffs. Anger and rage and all things involving the color _red_ build up, adding fuel to the already raging explosion inside of him.

_It’s my fault this happened_

_Sammy is going to disappear_

_Gabriel is still dead_

_Dean is going to die in_ Purgatory

_All because of me_

_…_

“Damn demons…” he mutters.

“Damn _angels_ …” he says a little louder.

Cas shifts Dean off of him, standing up swiftly. “Goddamn _Leviathan!...”_ he yells.

He marches out of the cave, knowing his mission. His eyes and wings burn blue with righteous fury.

 

Monsters with any _semblance_ of intelligence that see him, as he marches through Purgatory, run as fast as they can in the opposite direction of the ex-angel-turned-militant that emanates ferocity.

 

After a short while, Cas arrives at the boundaries where the Leviathan reside. He is well aware of the monsters stalking him from behind, but only ones he cares about right now are the ones that bleed black goo.

 _“Leviathan!”_ he calls to them in his true voice, causing all of Purgatory to vibrate and hum with his power.

 

A moment later, the vile creatures slink into view. _Thousands_ of them, all standing in front of Cas, heads tilting in a familiar, inhuman way.

 _“Angel….”_ the one of them hisses, _“Prepare to die.”_

As the leviathan advance, the power that was radiating around Cas is suddenly sucked inside of him. “Wrong.”

 

Those who weren’t there would say a nuclear bomb went off. Others, the end of the world. But in reality, it was just a pissed off angel with a grace bomb hidden away in it’s chest.

 

The blue, caustic explosion of grace radiates outwards in waves over the vast forest of Purgatory. Shrill screams float in the air while monsters’ souls burn, until suddenly, it all goes silent. The bodies the multifarious monsters of Purgatory fall to the ground limply, void of any hosts.

Cas turns to the leviathan corpses, breathing heavily, and produces a vial. He fills the vial with black goo and flies back to the cave.

 

“What the hell was that?!” Madison yells once Cas arrives, aghast at the strange blue wave that had zipped through Purgatory not a second before.

“I killed them,” Cas says quietly, wavering slightly on his feet.

“The leviathan? You killed _all_ the leviathan?”

“All of the monsters,” he states, bending down and helping Dean off the ground, “The bad ones, anyway.”

“ _How the fuck-”_

“I targeted the blackness of their souls. Only good monsters remain. Don’t let the bad ones take control of this place. Kill them when they arrive. When they die here, they no longer exist. This is a peaceful place now. Build a city. Make new lives for yourselves.” Cas turns to the mouth of the cave. Dean’s arm is draped around his shoulder in an effort to support the dazed hunter. “We must leave. Thank you for everything.”

Before Lenore or Madison can say anything, the angel and his hunter disappear from Purgatory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLOT TWIST! ALL THE BAD MONSTERS ARE DEAD! :) Hope you liked it.
> 
> FYI: This will probably be my only chapter upload for the next 2 weeks. I have midterms (yay). Wish me luck!!


	27. Did Someone Say 'Pink Plastic Flamingos'?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arg... I wasn't supposed to write another chapter and study for my midterms instead... Well, I guess I know where my priorities lie now haha. 
> 
> I finally figured out how I'm going to end this. I've just been going and going, but now I have a plan. There will be one, maybe two, more chapters after this, concluding this story. It's been amazing to write and so much fun. I love you all and thank you for all your support through this<3

Crowley returned to the bunker with Sammy, Sam, and Castiel with a wish of good luck from their new friend Lucifer.   
Henry and Bobby came back from the hunt as well, with very few broken bones, and greeted the others when they walked through the door.   
Once they all got settled, Castiel explained the details of where Dean is and what is happening to him with a heavy heart. He isn’t supposed to like humans and he generally doesn’t, as he finds them confusing, but he has grown fond of Dean and the others. 

  
Sammy paces through the lengthy halls of the bunker, struggling in his attempt to formulate _any_ kind of plan to get Dean here and save him.   
Sam leans on the doorframe, watching with tired eyes as worry lines quickly age the disappearing hunter's face.   
Crowley and Castiel sit with Bobby and Henry in the war room, discussing plans about what to do next. Crowley has decided to help because, as much as he hates to admit it, he liked the little glimpse he saw of his future life with the Winchesters. 

xx

  
The lights in the bunker begin to flicker and everyone stops dead, hunter instincts tingling as they listen silently.   
The lights suddenly shut off, submerging them all in darkness. There's a bright, blinding flash of blue followed by a thud.   
Making their way in the pitch black towards the sound, the 6 of them eventually gather in the library.   
"You didn't smack your head into the doorway or something, did you Moose?"   
"No," both Sams reply, annoyed.   
"Will someone get the goddamn lights?" Bobby growls.   
  
The lights flick on, thanks to Henry, and the group gasps in shock.

Dean and Cas are there, but not in the way they would like to see them.

 

Dean’s eyes, usually a vibrant green, are dull and glossy with tears, which leave wet tracks through the blood and dirt caked onto his freckled face. Cuts and scrapes litter his filthy tanned skin. His breathing comes heavily and uneven, as eyes dart around vaguely as if they are attempting to watch something dash around the room.

 _‘Hallucinations…’_ Sam thinks.

Cas is in a daze, eyes heavy and unfocused. The limp angel is clutched tightly in Dean’s arms. Cas, too, is bedraggled, almost beyond recognition. His trenchcoat lays in a wrinkled heap on the floor, discarded, while his shirt is nowhere to be seen. Where a shirt should be on the angel, are bloodied bandages, grace glowing dimly underneath.   
  
“Dean!” both Sams exclaim, rushing to his side.

Dean flinches at their touches and yelps, as if he didn’t hear nor see them. He squints up at them, attempting to blink them into focus. “Guys?”

“Are you okay?” Sammy asks as Bobby asks, “What the _hell_ happened?!”

Dean looks over the Sams, noticing the others for the first time. He sniffles and chuckles weakly, fake smile plastered on his face. “Besides dying… Just peachy. And as for what happened?” he sighs, “Purgatory happened.” He looks down at Cas, who is still out of it. Dean leans down and kisses the angel’s forehead. “C’mon Cas. We’re back. We’re okay.”

Cas’ eyes flutter, bringing Dean into focus. “Dean?”  
In a frenzy of limbs, Cas is suddenly leaning over Dean, inspecting any damages. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? I-I’m sorry… the veil… I couldn’t put up the protections. I needed to get you back here quickly-” “Cas.”

Cas looks into the hunter’s eyes with a guilty expression. Dean smiles softly. “I’m fine. It’s okay.”

 

xx

 

After Dean and Cas shower and Cas’ injury is assessed, everyone gathers in the library.

“Cas needs to bring you back, ya idjit,” Bobby says forcefully, jaw set. Dean shakes his head.

“For the millionth time, I’m _telling_ you… I’m not going back until Sammy-...” he watches his brother flicker in and out of existence and sighs, “He doesn’t get to die without me by his side.”

“Dammit, Dean,” Sammy sighs, “You’re going to die in a matter of _hours._ We don’t even know how long I’ve got left!”

“You have but a few minutes,” Castiel states, “I can see it on your soul.”

“Oh…”

The silence is deafening.

“Well,” Crowley breaks the quiet and extends his hand, “It’s been great meeting you, Moose - _Sam_ … It’s been great meeting you, _Sam_.”

Sammy smiles soft, grateful for Crowley’s effort to be nice, and shakes his hand goodbye.

Bobby pulls him down into a hug, patting him on the back. No words were exchanged, but the look the old hunter gives him speaks volumes.

Next is Henry. Sammy didn’t give him enough credit for being strong. Those scrawny little arms squeezed the life out of him… Or what is left of it anyway.

Castiel just puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder and gives him a small nod, comforting Sammy in the only way he knows how.

Sam gives him a short, but tight hug, knowing that’s exactly what _he_ would have wanted in that situation.

Cas also hugs him tight, whispering words of thanks in his ear.

And then there’s Dean. He doesn’t say anything. He pulls his little brother down, as he has always done in their brief hugs, and holds Sammy firm.

They stay this way for a few moments before Sammy says, “Bye, Dean.”

“Bye, Sammy.”

 

One second, Dean was hugging his little brother. The next, he’s holding onto nothing.

Dean’s shoulders slump forward. Whether it’s from the grief of losing his brother or the searing pain from his soul, he doesn’t know.

“Take me back now, Cas,” Dean’s voice cracks.

 

His efforts for no ‘chick _more_ flick moments’ fail as the others repeat their goodbyes.

With a brief nod, Cas places his hand on Dean’s shoulder and they disappear from the earth.

 

xx

 

Cas and Dean appear just inside the door to Dean’s heaven, out of sight from the other Dean.

They shudders as they hear the sounds of karaoke.

_“See my baby, tell her,_

_Tell her hurry home_

_Had no lovin’_

_Since my baby been gone.”_

‘My voice ain’t too bad, I guess,’ he thinks.

_“See my baby”_

Dean and Cas look at each other, eyes wide. That voice was _not_ Dean’s, but… it _can’t_ be…

They dash, but mostly stumble, around the corner, to see Dean singing with no one other than _Sammy._

 _“Tell her hurry on home,”_ they harmonize loudly.

Sam gasps into the microphone upon spotting Dean and Cas, dropping it.

 _“Dean!”_ he yells with rosy cheeks. He throws his hands in the air, whooping loudly.

The other Dean also turns, _“Me!”_ he exclaims before laughing giddily.

“I believe they are intoxicated…” Cas whispers, pointing to the beer bottles scattered across the floor.

Sam envelopes Dean and Cas in a hug, “Damn is good to see you guys. It’s been _sooo_ long. Like, _weeks_ , since I died ‘n stuff.”

“How-” “There was a 97% chance Sam would fall into the void…” Cas interrupts, “I guess he got that lucky 3%...”

“He’s got the Winchester Luck!” Other Dean yells, jumping off the couch and onto Sam’s shoulders.

The two of them proceed to wrestle each other to the ground.

“Um…” Dean turns to Cas, “Weeks?”

Cas shrugs, “Every heaven’s time is different.”

“Wait, if Sam has already been here for weeks, how long has Dean-”

“Like 6 months or somethin’,” Other Dean replies from where he is pinned down beneath Sam, “It was boring at first,” he flips so Sam is now pinned, “But then I figured out how to make stuff appear!”

Dean and Cas glance around the room, noticing all the odd things.

Several hundred pounds of beef jerky, most of which has already been eaten. Six, no, _seven_ crates of vintage alcoholic drinks, which are also mostly empty. A giant flat screen tv. A light up-disco ball-karaoke machine mash up… _thing._ Two dirt bikes and obvious tire marks all over the floor. Thousands of colorful string lights strung throughout the room. About a dozen of those _pink plastic flamingos_ that you would put in a yard, randomly positioned around the room with funny hats on. And a whole bunch of other stuff they didn’t even think existed.

“As much fun as I’m having,” Other Dean gets up, wiping the imaginary dirt off his pants, “I do miss Sam. _My_ Sam,” he looks back at Sam, “No offense or anything.” Sam shrugs it off.

Cas places his hand on Other Dean’s forehead, inspecting his soul. “It seems my grace did the trick. You’re ready to return.”

 

The process was simple: Cas settled his hands over each of the Dean’s chests, said a few words in enochian, and their souls switched.

 

Dean’s vision immediately becomes clear, everything returning to normal now that he is in his rightful place in heaven.

Other Dean, however, groans, holding his head in pain.

“Sorry,” Dean says shyly, “Got a little crazy up in there for a while.”

Cas touches two fingers to Other Dean’s forehead and is healed instantaneously.

 

“I guess this is it,” Sam says, “I’ll see you around sometime. But not too soon, okay?”  
Other Dean smirks, “Okay, Samantha. Getting tired of seeing your girl hair right now anyway. My Sam still has some hope in that department.”

Laughs spread all around as they wave goodbye. “Don’t forget to send Gabe up once in awhile!” Sam calls as Other Dean and Cas disappear.

“So,” Sam turns to Dean, the two of them now sharing their very own, undisturbed-by-unwanted-angels heaven, “Karaoke?”  
Dean grins happily for the first time in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that was one of Dean's favorite songs :) (Ramble On -Led Zepplin)
> 
> The next chapter involves the spell. I'm excited to write it:)


	28. Human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's almost over! It's been a blast writing this and reading your thoughts.   
> It's been an amazing 5 1/2 months writing this and I cannot express how grateful I am for all your support.   
> I love you all and AKF <3

Dean falls to the floor of the war room, dizzy from angel airways. Oh, and  _ coming back to life _ . He coughs, relishing the feeling of blood rushing through his veins, when he feels the gentle touch of a calloused hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he sees Sam watching him uncertainly. 

“Dean?” Sam questions wearily, unsure if it is his Dean or the one from the future. Dean grins, pulling his brother into an unexpected hug. “Long time no see.”

Sam hugs back eagerly, overjoyed that  _ his  _ Dean is finally back.

 

xx 

 

“Gabriel’s  _ dead _ ?” Dean asks, as more of a clarification than a question, shocked as the group tells him what has been going on. 

“He was killed by Raphael when you were taken,” Castiel states, “But we are working on an ancient spell, originally intended for Lucifer, that will hopefully bring him back to life.” He motions to the various ingredients on the table in front of them.

  
  


“Bollocks,” Crowley says as walks into the room, a frustrated look on his face, “I can’t find that bloody angel.”

“I am right here, Crowley,” Castiel replies, but realizes he means  _ Cas _ when Crowley throws him an annoyed look. 

Crowley walks up to Dean. “Do you know where your angel is, squirrel?”

Dean stares at this  _ ‘Crowley’ _ guy. No, not guy. There’s something inhuman about him, yet none of the others seem too bothered by him, so he relaxes slightly. “Uh… Since when is Cas  _ my  _ angel? And _ who the hell are you _ ?”

“Are you daft?” Crowley begins, but then pauses, realization spreading across his face, “ _ Oh _ . You haven’t met me yet. I’m Crowley, King of the Crossroads and soon to be King of Hell. Pleasure to re-meet you, squirrel. And I, uh, guess he’s not  _ your _ angel…” he leans in and whispers, “He and the other Dean are a bit of a thing.”

Dean puts his hand up and scrunches his face, halting the conversation from straying any further into unnecessary details. “I don’t need to know about that.”

Sam reenters the room after leaving some point during their talk. “He’s right. Cas isn’t here.”

As if on cue, there is a familiar flutter of wings. “Sorry for leaving so abruptly. There was something important I had to do.” A bittersweet look encompasses his face and for the first time, the weight of everything Cas has seen and knows shows in his eyes. They are hard, and a little bit broken, but are framed in a halo of peace. Before anyone can ask any questions, he walks up to the table with the ingredients. “Let’s begin.”

 

xx 

 

A large space is cleared in the library and a two tables are put in the center. On one table, an intricate enochian sigil is drawn in chalk it’s black surface. In the center of the sigil is a large, silver bowl, where the ingredients will be mixed.

Cas walks up to the second table, which is parallel to the other. Waving his hand over it, a body suddenly appears. 

“Who the bloody hell is that?” Crowley huffs, “You made this guy seem so important and yet… he’s  _ short _ . Short people aren’t important.”

Dean snorts and looks at him. “Look who’s talkin’.”

Crowley glares at him evilly. “Touché.”

“This,” Cas begins, “Is my brother, Gabriel.”

“Yeah right,” the demon scoffs, “He’s been dead for millennia.”

“Gabriel has been dead for no more than 6 days, 12 hours, and 23 minutes,” Castiel supplies, as punctual as ever.

“Where the hell has he been?”

“Partying, generally. Living under the identity of Loki, the Trickster God.”

“So… This spell-”

“Will bring Gabriel back to life,” Cas answers.

Crowley purses his lips in thought, makes a clicking noise with his tongue, and then shrugs as if he’s simply come to terms with the revelation. “Get on with it then.”

 

Castiel brings the ingredients to the table where Cas is preparing himself. Cas leans in and whispers something in Castiel’s ear. Castiel looks at him with a confused expression. Cas, in turn, telepathically tells him something. Castiel’s eyes go wide, but soon nods and hurries off into another room.

 

As Cas begins reciting the spell and puts the first ingredient, the apple, into the bowl, Sam reads over the spell once more. 

“Wait, Cas, stop,” Sam calls, realizing something important is missing. Cas continues, pouring the black goo of the leviathan's’ blood and Lucifer’s fire-colored blood into the bowl.

“Cas, we _ can’t do the spell _ . We don’t have an archangel’s grace.”

Cas chants louder, streaming in the crystal clear flood waters.

Castiel returns with an angel blade and some bandages. Never once pausing in his chant, Cas looks over at the others sorrowfully, who stare at him skeptically.

“Cas?” Dean questions as Cas raises the angel blade to his throat. Castiel steps behind Cas, poised as if to catch him if he were to fall backward. He also joins on the chant, speaking fluidly and in sync with Cas. 

Cas steadies his grip on the angel blade just as Sam and Dean realize what he is about to do and begin running over to him. Before they can reach him, he slits his throat, grace pouring out of the wound and into the bowl, causing it and it’s contents to glow soft blue.

Cas goes silent and his eyes roll back into his head. He falls, limp, into Castiel’s arms, who is still chanting, voice never faltering. Castiel lowers him to the ground, where Sam and Dean fall by his side, shaking him, willing him,  _ begging _ him, to wake up. They use the bandages Castiel brought to slow the bleeding of his throat as best as they

Castiel, continuing the chant, stands before the table as Cas was. He focuses on finishing the spell, not allowing the Winchester’s frantic voices break his concentration. 

Lighting a match, Castiel says the final line and drops it into the glowing bowl. 

Gabriel’s body begins to glow, but Castiel turns away quickly, bending down to Cas. He pushes the Winchesters away and puts his hand over Cas’ throat, healing it. He then lays his hand over his heart, pumps as much grace as he can into it, and pulls his hand back. 

The three of them are gathered around Cas, waiting for  _ anything _ to happen when Bobby and Crowley interrupt their thoughts. 

“Uh… Guys?”

“He bloody did it…”

They turn to see Gabriel standing on the table looking around, a little disoriented and confused. He eventually spots Cas lying on the floor. 

“ _ Cassie _ …” he breathes. 

Gabriel manages to climb down from the table without falling and staggers to Cas’ side. He lays a hand on his chest, as Castiel has done, but doesn't do anything. The archangel concentrates, seemingly looking for any signs of life. 

Just when he believes that Cas, is in fact, dead, he feels a pulse. It's faint, but it's there. 

 

“Why would he do that?...” Dean mutters as they lift Cas onto the table, “Why would he risk dying?”

Gabriel checks Cas’ pulse once more, just to make he’s still there, and sighs. “Cas is tired. He’s lived a long life with a lot of difficulties. I think he just wants some peace.”

Gabriel steps away as Henry pushes through. He was a partially trained medic in the Men of Letters so he helps to rebandage Cas’ back, as it had begun bleeding again from his fall. Dean also brings that same pair of gray sweatpants, from what seems like forever ago, and dresses Cas in the loose-fitting sweats. Once that is done, Cas is laid on the couch in the library so everyone can keep an eye on him. 

 

xx 

 

“I don't understand,” Gabriel begins, “How _exactly_  am I alive? Resurrecting an archangel ain't easy.”

“An old spell we found,” Henry supplies, “We all fought tooth and nail to retrieve the ingredients necessary to bring an archangel back to life.”

“But there's no such spell-”

“Can it, shortie,” Dean cuts in, “It worked, okay? And we’re glad you’re alive and stuff, but Cas cut out his grace and now he's probably _dying_ over there.” He motions to the angel sleeping restlessly on the couch. 

Gabriel's eyes widen, mouth agape. “Cas cut out his grace?”

“He used his grace as the substitute for an archangel’s grace and power from God in the spell,” Sam answers. 

Gabriel looks over at Cas, who has a sheen of cold sweat covering his body. The archangel’s expression turns soft and sympathetic as he gets up and walks over to his little brother. 

“Oh, Cassie…” Gabriel says quietly, rubbing his shoulder, “Why would you put yourself through this again…”

“What happens, exactly, when an angel cuts out their grace?” Crowley asks curiously.

 

“Put himself through  _ what _ , again?” Bobby questions and Gabriel sighs, returning to the group as not to wake Cas. 

“When I saw Cas’ memories, I also saw his feelings. There was a time in his life when the angels were cast from heaven by this dick named Metatron. He did it by using Cas’ grace in a spell. Since his grace was taken from him, on multiple occasions actually, he became human. And it was the hardest time of his life. He was forced to learn how to be human, do regular human things, while living on the street,” Gabriel shakes his head, “Now he's doing it all over again.”

“You mean he’s-”

“Human,” Cas mutters from his place on the couch. He sits up with a groan and stretches, cracking his back in the process. “But it’s okay because I have this place,” his face falters, looking uncertainly at the others, “If I am welcome…”

Sam is immediately enveloping the ex-angel in a warm hug, showing him how much he is loved. “Of course, Cas. Whatever you need, we’re here for you.”

“Before, Sammy said that you had a room when you stayed here,” Dean adds, “It’s yours if you want it.”

Cas smiles, cheeks rosy and warm with happiness. His brother is alive and he has a roof over his head and great people to share it with. 

 

xx

 

“If you're human,” Sam later asks in the kitchen, “How are we supposed to stop the apocalypse.”

“Raphael is dead, Zachariah is too afraid to do anything, and Lucifer has become the Morning Star once again. The apocalypse won’t be happening,” Cas says with a content sigh as he sips his steaming cup of coffee, something he had grown to cherish in his brief stints as a human. 

“Uh, hate to break it to you bro, but Mikey is still in the picture.”

Cas smiles knowingly, taking another sip. “I talked to father. He agreed to…  _ converse... _ with Michael about stepping down as leader.”

Gabriel snorts, “More like Dad is gonna watch while Michael has a tantrum,” he pauses, thinking, “But heaven… The angels will be a complete  _ wreck _ without someone to lead them.”

Cas smirks. Honest to God, smirks. “Gentlemen,” he addresses the others, “Meet the new leader of heaven.”

Gabriel’s eyes widen. “ _ Really?” _ He asks and Cas nods happily. Gabriel throws himself at Cas, wrapping his arms around him and giving him probably the only hug he’ll ever give. “You’re the best, bro,” he whispers. Turning around, he jumps up on the counter, fists in the air in triumph. “ _ Whoohoo! _ Get ready for it to rain candy  _ everyday _ fellas!  _ Gabriel’s back in action!” _

Sam groans, annoyed by this, while Dean’s face pales, already stressed about Gabriel’s pranks, and Crowley just laughs at them, amused by it all.

 

Cas drinks his coffee, curled up in a fuzzy blanket in the library, watching his family bicker. He smiles at that. His _ family _ : a confused seraph, an archangel-turned-trickster, the soon-to-be King of Hell, a time traveling man that looks  _ great  _ for being 75 years old, a surly old hunter who says the word ‘idjit’ too often, and two squabbling brother who are too good for their own good. 

His final round as a human is going to be good, he thinks to himself. He can feel it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have the epilogue to post. It'll be up soon!!


	29. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And of course, a happy ending :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your support through his story. It has been the best few months writing this for you all <3

 

Despite Gabriel’s assurances, it  _ doesn't  _ rain candy everyday. It only happened once and the news said it was an airplane transporting tons of candy that accidentally dropped its cargo while in the air and spread it across America. 

But the Winchesters _ knew _ there was an archangel laughing his ass off up in heaven. 

Since Gabriel arrived up in heaven for the first time in millenia, other than the angels’ shock at him being alive, heaven was now a peaceful, comfortable place without strife. 

 

Crowley became the King of Hell. He was quite good at it too. There were no unnecessary deals made and everything was done fairly. Hell was in its prime. And it would be for a  _ very  _ long time. 

 

Chuck talked to Michael and now the two of them travel the universe, creating new planets and galaxies in deep space. No doubt, Michael was upset at first. No one blamed him though. His entire life’s purpose was gone with a short ‘It’s done, Michael’ from Chuck. 

Secretly, Michael liked that the apocalypse didn’t happen. He loved his brother and would have hated himself for the rest of eternity if he was forced to kill him. 

 

Lucifer was visited regularly by his new friends and was eventually restored as a pure archangel. He returned to heaven where he now rules by Gabriel’s side, making mischief while keeping the peace.

 

Castiel went looking for a purpose and found it in a hospital. He saw a little girl, dying of a rare form of leukemia. Heartbroken by this, he healed her. 

Now he travels around the world, healing those who are sick. During his travels, he told the story of the men who stopped the apocalypse and saved the world. 

 

Eventually, Bobby died. He was old and knew his time had come. He called Sam, Dean, and Cas into the room, where he was sitting on his old chair. Bobby told them that they're not alone. That they'll  _ never _ be alone. And to always stay together cuz family don't end it blood. 

And with a sip of whiskey and a chuckle, Bobby Singer breathed his last breath. 

 

Cas and his family, Sam and Dean, continued to live in the bunker and travel across the country. “We’re kicking evil ass and takin’ names,” Dean would say, a wide grin spread across his face. 

They went around like this for a long time.

Until the accident, that is.

Dean died at the barrel of a gun, just like he always said he would. Sam had suddenly died in his sleep in a small cabin in the middle of the woods after getting banged up bad after a hunt. Cas tried to call Castiel and patch Sam up as best as he could, but in the end, it was all in vain. 

Dean went out to avenge his brother, but was shot by the demon they were hunting. It was possessing a hunter, perched up in the trees with a rifle in it’s hands. 

Crowley dragged the demon into the deepest reaches of Hell, furious with it as all of Hell knew that the Winchester Trio were  _ off limits _ . 

 

Cas gave Sam and Dean a hunter's funeral, just like they wanted. 

While the brothers burned, Cas, Crowley, and Henry, who was now sporting a full head of gray hair, spilled some of the finest liquor they had to offer for Sam and Dean. 

Their ashes were soon buried out behind the bunker under an old oak tree. The impala was parked over their graves as a tribute to their legacy and heroism. 

 

Henry, too, was soon buried beside his grandsons. 

Without anyone to drive her, the impala rusted away till she was almost nothing, save for her rusty frame, some colorful legos, a small green army man, and two FBI id’s with the names Robert Plant and Jimmy Page displaying pictures of the young, and smiling, Sam and Dean Winchester. 

 

For some reason, Cas’ body never aged physically, so he never looked any different than he had 20 or 30 years before. Maybe it was residual grace energy, or a gift from heaven, he wasn’t sure. 

By the time Cas passed on, the Winchester Legend was well known around the word. As a world full of hunters go, there were but a few monsters left, scattered in the far corners of the earth. 

When Cas’ final breath came, Crowley, Castiel, Lucifer, and Gabriel were by his side. Gabriel soon lead him to his heaven, smiling ear to ear. 

Cas knew Gabe was up to something, but let it slide. 

When they came to the door to Cas’ heaven, Cas laughed as he reached out and ran his fingers along the sign marking the door. 

It read:

Cas asked Gabriel why there was a smudge on Sam’s death date and he said that Sam never truly died. Only disappeared.

Cas turned around and the room across read:

They could all visit with each other any time they wished. 

 

Cas could feel his nerves rising as he turned the handle to his shared heaven and stepped inside. 

It was dark. Pitch black, even. He stood there, confused for a few moments when the lights suddenly turned on. 

Sam and Dean,  _ his _ Sam and Dean, the ones he hasn’t seen in over 40 years, were standing there with party hats and food and a great big banner that read “Welcome to Death” in big letters, and “It's a lot of fun” was written in smaller letters underneath. 

Cas embraced the brothers tightly, tears of happiness dripping off his face. 

“I missed you both immensely,” he had said. 

“We missed you too,” Sam had replied. 

“I missed you more,” Dean added, and pulled Cas into a kiss. 

 

To this day, Hell is running smoothly, Earth is hunting evil in the name of the Winchesters, Heaven is peaceful, and the Winchester family is happy. 


End file.
